Zhismond (lithographs flies)

The poster was commissioned by actress Sarah Bernard for her in Paris and was intended for a theatrical production of a Greek melodrama in 4 acts of Gismond , which was written in 1894 by Victorien Sardou . Mucha received the order unexpectedly after Sarah Bernard rejected the sketch proposed by the Lemercier printing company . The premiere of the performance itself took place in the autumn of 1894, and Mucha created a poster for a new production on January 4, 1895 ^[1] .

She became a turning point in the creative career of the Fly. The poster appeared on the streets of Paris in the first week of January 1895 and made a real sensation, becoming a revolution in poster design. The unusual format - a narrow and stretched upwards, full-size image, in full growth of the glorified tragic actress, the wealth of well-chosen colors had an extraordinary dramatic effect. The motif was taken from the scene, which represents a solemn procession in the final action of the play. This determined the stylistic concept of the poster: a luxurious costume resembling priestly costume, a symbolic palm branch and a nimbus -shaped background mosaic - all this conveyed a sacred atmosphere that reflected no less awe of the actress as a cult figure, a muse of a beautiful era .

This poster is referred to as a perfect poster concept; for Mucha, she became a stepping stone to the exceptional personal style “Le Style Mucha”, and since then he has qualified as an outstanding representative of the Parisian modern style . Sarah Bernard painted her painterly dramatic artwork so convincing that she decided to sign a 6-year contract with the artist. Bernard also used this poster during her American tour in 1896 ^[1] .

Two typographic prints of the Gismond poster are kept in the Museum of the Fly in Prague .

• Renata Ulmer. “Alphonse Mucha. 1860-1939. Master of Art Nouveau ”=“ Mucha ”. - M .: Taschen / Art-Spring , 2008. - 96 p. - 3000 copies - ISBN 978-5-9794-0122-5 .