26 Dec How Mucha Transformed Sarah Bernhardt Into an Art Nouveau Icon
Source Credit: Content and images from Artnet News. Read the original article - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-bites-mucha-bernhardt-art-nouveau-2556863
On Christmas Eve in 1894, Czech painter and illustrator Alphonse Mucha was checking lithographic prints at the Parisian studio Lemercier when he received an unexpected call from the nearby Théâtre de la Renaissance. Sarah Bernhardt, the lead actress of the upcoming play, Gismonda, didn’t like the production’s promotional poster and wanted it redone.
Born in 1860 in a small town in Czechoslavkia, then part of the Austrian Empire, Mucha’s artistic talents showed at a young age, when the quality of his drawings compelled a local merchant to gift him a small supply of high-quality paper. Bernhardt, for her part, was born in Paris in 1844. She starred in some of the most popular European plays of the 19th century and was already at the top of her game when she came into contact with Mucha. Even so, the friendship that resulted from this interaction would prove beneficial to both of their careers.
French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) performing on stage in a production of Camille in 1913. Photo: Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images.
Their meeting was largely a product of chance. When Bernhardt, unhappy with the play’s promotional material, reached Mucha, he was a relatively low-ranking illustrator and were it not for the fact that all the other artists were off for the holidays, he might never have taken on this important commission. If Bernhardt was hesitant, Mucha jumped on the opportunity, eager to show the star what he was made of.
Mucha’s poster, measuring 216 by 74 centimeters—roughly 85 by 29 inches—could soon be found throughout Paris. Although the artist had little to no experience designing marketing material, his creation would set the standard for the ensuing decades. Rendered in the fashionable yet nascent Art Nouveau style, it depicts Bernhardt in character: an elegant Byzantine noblewomen with flowing hair and historic costume, with orchid headdress and palm branch in hand.
For an indication of the actor’s star power, look no further than the top section of the poster, which displays her last name in capital letters, almost as large as the title of the play itself, and considerably larger than the name of the theater, shown at the bottom.
Mucha’s poster for Gismonda. Photo: Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images.
Gismonda was written by the French dramatist Victorien Sardou in 1894 and is set in Greece. It tells the story of its eponymous heroine, a duchess of Athens who promised to marry the commoner who saved her son’s life, only to find herself in doubt of her decision. The production, like many of Sardou’s works, is a shining example of the well-made play, a genre of French theatre that prioritized tight plotting over characterization or subtext.
Bernhardt liked Mucha’s poster design a lot better than the one it replaced. In fact, she was so pleased with it that she approached the Czech illustrator with several other commissions. Over the course of his career, he designed posters for several other plays she starred in, including La Dame aux Camélias, Lorenzaccio, Samaritaine, Médée, La Tosca, and Hamlet.
Each of these projects stuck to the same Art Nouveau style, featuring exaggerated gestures, serene facial expressions, curved lines, vibrant colors, and floral motifs, all of which combined to give Bernhardt the aura of a veritable muse or goddess. Mucha called her “La divine Sarah.”
Alphonse Mucha, Sarah Bernhardt – American Tour Poster. Photo: Library of Congress / Corbis / VCG via Getty Images.
Mucha’s posters were also used to advertise Bernhardt’s theatrical tours in the United States, where she enjoyed an equally large following. The artist, too, went on to enjoy widespread success in the U.S. His arrival in the country in 1904, enabled by the assistance of one of his benefactors, Baroness Adèle von Rothschild, made front-page news, thanks to the reputation he’d earned working for Bernhardt.
Mucha was eager to reinvent himself as a painter first and illustrator second, and the Baroness helped him secure one of his first commissions: a portrait of one of her high society connections. Although his paintings were well received, it’s for his posters—specifically those made for Bernhardt’s plays—that Mucha is most often remembered today.
What’s the deal with Leonardo’s harpsichord-viola? Why were Impressionists obsessed with the color purple? Art Bites brings you a surprising fact, lesser-known anecdote, or curious event from art history.
Source Credit: Content and images from Artnet News. Read the original article - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-bites-mucha-bernhardt-art-nouveau-2556863