La Primevere & Le Plume
La Primevere et Le Plume (The Primrose and the Quill), c.1897/1899, Stone Lithographs in Color on Wove Paper, Signed in the Plate, 29.75" x 11.8", Published by F. Champenois, Paris
La Primevère and Le Plume are two exquisite lithographs by Alphonse Mucha, created during the peak of his artistic influence in the Art Nouveau movement. These works embody Mucha’s signature style—graceful, idealized women surrounded by intricate floral and ornamental motifs.
These two symbolic figures, complete with Mucha's customary aureoles around their heads and adorned with filigrees in their hair, comprise one of the best decorative panel sets marketed by Champenois" (Rennert/Weill p. 240). Indeed all of Mucha's incomparable graphic traits are on display here; a consummately rendered woman in profile, an ornamented halo behind her head, luxurious jewelry in her hair, and his sophisticated palette.
Rennert/Weill 64, Lendl 69, Mucha C11, The Spirit of Art Nouveau 51b.
Examples of Mucha's lithographs can be found in such institutions as:
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Art Institute of Chicago (USA)
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Mucha Museum, Prague (Czech Republic)
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Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Netherlands)
Mucha was famous for his commercial posters, which had a wide audience, but he also worked in a variety of other media, including furniture, jewelry, and theatrical sets. He mostly worked in Vienna and Paris but was also in Chicago, where he taught at the Art Institute, from 1904 to 1910. There, he introduced his interpretation of the "new art" to a United States audience. The densely patterned posters epitomize the Art Nouveau interest in natural forms, decoration, and a rejection of the anonymity of mechanical production.
