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This poster marked the beginning of Mucha’s career and introduced a new artistic style into commercial lithography. Mucha created it on an urgent commission for Sarah Bernhardt’s theater during the Christmas season of 1894, when the printer could not find another available artist. It is a sensitive portrait of the actress in an ornate costume. The poster depicts Sarah Bernhardt carrying a palm branch in the Palm Sunday procession in the third act. The depiction of the entire figure allows the viewer to fully appreciate the effect of the flowing gown. Byzantine mosaic decorations highlight the biblical theme, Sarah’s devout expression reflects faith, and the subtle pastel tones whisper the commercial message rather than shouting it. This was a radical shift from the dominant poster styles of the time. Paris took notice of this change. Sarah Bernhardt was so impressed with the work that she made Mucha one of her protégés. For several years afterward, Mucha was a favorite of Parisian society. During this time, Art Nouveau and Mucha’s style were synonymous, and his concepts of composition and decoration were taught in every art school. Likely no other individual poster had such profound effects on its creator and its entire era.

One of Sarah Bernhardt’s greatest acting achievements is promoted through one of Mucha’s most significant poster creations. The fragile and vulnerable nature of the heroine allowed Bernhardt to explore deep emotions, and Mucha’s poster captures this with great sensitivity, featuring a long white dress, a starry backdrop, and a dreamy expression on Sarah’s face.

The play, referred to as Camille in English-speaking regions, had already achieved classic status by its time, having first debuted on stage in 1852. This poster was designed for the premiere of the newly adapted and updated production on September 30, 1896, at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris. Camille was the role Sarah Bernhardt cherished the most, one she portrayed over three thousand times throughout her career.

This is the first poster Mucha created after his return to Bohemia, where he reportedly came back to cease his work in applied arts and focus on his beloved historical scenes. In this instance, Mucha agreed to create a poster for the ballet-pantomime based on the fairy tale Princess Hyacinth, with music composed by the renowned Czech composer Oskar Nedbal and directed by Ladislav Novák.

Mucha probably got involved in this project through the actress Andula Sedláčková, who posed as a model for him. She was a key figure in Prague’s theater scene and shortly afterward became the first prominent star of the budding film industry in Czechoslovakia.

Mucha portrays the young princess in an alluring, dreamy pose, dressed in luxurious brocade and adorned with unique jewelry, the kind Mucha loved to design. The typical circular halo is present, along with typography in “Mucha style.”

This “respectful tribute” was a gesture of honor from the Nestlé company on the occasion of the 60th year of Queen Victoria’s reign. The queen, who gave her name to an entire era, ascended to the throne in 1837 at the age of eighteen and ruled until her death in 1901. In the design, Mucha used four portraits of her, capturing her at different ages, with no mention of any Nestlé products—a pioneering example of institutional advertising.

This is Mucha’s second-largest poster design, measuring three by two meters. The poster for the West End revue is only slightly larger by a few centimeters.

A dazzling duo of delicate young ladies advertises the products of Moët & Chandon, one of the oldest and most respected brands in the sparkling wine industry. One of the women carries a tray of grapes in the open air, while the other holds a glass of champagne in a magnificent, clearly opulent interior.

The company was founded in 1743 when wine merchant Claude Moët purchased his own vineyard in Épernay in northeastern France and began producing sparkling wine. At that time, it was a relatively new innovation, as the production process had only recently been discovered by the Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon, who was the cellar master at a nearby abbey.

A nymph sits in quiet contemplation of nature amidst a fantastically exploding exotic vegetation, which almost obscures the curve of the azure Mediterranean bay just behind her. The scene is permeated by an aura of tranquility and natural beauty, which aligns with the text on the poster announcing the sale of recreational trips to Monaco by rail. The railway company’s text appears to have been added almost randomly and as an afterthought in the lower right corner. The client likely realized that if the beautiful design didn’t convince the viewer, any additional text would be pointless anyway.

Mucha’s second poster for the Théâtre de la Renaissance advertises a play in which Sarah Bernhardt did not perform; the stars were Lucien Guitry and Jeanne Granier. The poster is composed of three scenes separated by ornamental elements: the foreground and central section depict a gala evening where some flirting seems to be taking place, in the upper left corner, children watch a puppet show, and in the upper right, there is a hint of a tragic undertone lurking behind the carefree activities.

The play, written by Maurice Donnay, premiered on November 5, 1895.

This design, originally created for a calendar distributed by both the printer Champenois and the magazine La Plume, became one of Mucha’s most popular artworks. It sold well in decorative editions for homes and was also used by several of Champenois’s clients for other advertising purposes. The space where two cherubs appear in the artistic version was filled with columns of twelve months in the calendar versions, prepared for the years 1897 to 1901. The empty space at the top was used to display the names of various clients. Additionally, a British client used this design to advertise bath tablets and breath fresheners.

The stunning diadem and necklace the girl is wearing testify to Mucha’s interest in designing original jewelry—a talent he showcased multiple times throughout his career, especially during his work for Sarah Bernhardt. The circular background, one of Mucha’s most consistently dominant characteristic elements, features zodiac symbols this time, as befits a calendar.

This quartet of ethereal fairies represents Mucha’s first venture into decorative panels—and a very successful one. Featured here are the lyrical Spring, the drowsy Summer, the seductive Autumn, and the shivering Winter, all available for a total of 40 francs according to the 1896 catalog. The set became very popular and was sold in various versions, including one on satin, and a smaller version with all four panels on a single sheet of paper with an ornamental frame designed by Mucha for this purpose. It was commercially used in interesting ways, such as by a Philadelphia printer—as a calendar for 1898 and as an announcement for the Carriage Dealers’ Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1902, where only the Summer panel was used, printed by a New York lithographer.

This is Mucha at his best, with feminine charm and the beauty of nature sensitively captured in delicate pastel hues.

In the first of his several designs for the Lefèvre-Utile company, Mucha depicted a charming scene radiating joy in an elegant setting, aiming to convey the message that LU biscuits are popular among the highest social circles. The company’s initials are subtly integrated into the image, here and there: for example, note the wall ornament in the upper left corner, the cushion beside the blonde lady’s right hand, and the handkerchief on her lap.

Designs for Lefèvre-Utile are not easy to find, as the company did not allow them to be sold separately as works of art. Additionally, this small design was not used as a wall poster but rather as an advertising display placed in stores, where it was intended to stand on a counter or hang in a shop window; for this reason, it was backed with cardboard and had two holes with inserted metal grommets at the top for easy attachment to various surfaces or for hanging.

In its time, the book Documents Décoratifs was a key resource for applied arts. This portfolio was used for many years in art courses across Europe and the United States. It encompasses everything we consider to be Art Nouveau, showcasing its full potential and wide application. The 72 plates, with decorative borders and patterns, include studies of a wide range of subjects, such as wallpaper designs, silverware, flowers, windows, figure studies, as well as fully executed examples of posters for the Nectar Liqueur (Ref.: R-W A.8) and the portfolio itself, Documents Décoratifs (Ref.: R-W A.7).

Mucha’s ambitious project, the Slav Epic, illustrated the complex history of the Slavs, characterized by persistent efforts to rid themselves of foreign dominance over the centuries. These efforts culminated in the declaration of an independent Czechoslovak Republic in the fall of 1918. Mucha believed there was no better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this event than by finally revealing this monumental work to the public and dedicating it to his people as a gift to the city of Prague.

The exhibition, where all nineteen enormous paintings were displayed together for the first time, opened in Prague in September 1928. This poster announces its reprise in Brno in June 1930.