Lefevre-Utile, Sara Bernhard

Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) was a Czechoslovakian Art Nouveau artist who pioneered a sensuous, ornate style replete in stained glass colors, elaborately curving lines and ethereal women. Realizing that living people created the art he admired in churches, Mucha became inspired to paint. Moving to Paris, he was initially the archetypical starving artist, until Sarah Bernhardt asked him to create a poster for the play, “Gismonda.” The life-size poster, which was the antithesis of artistic trends of the day, was a sensation. Bernhardt signed him to a six-year contract, and he became a household name. Mucha’s style experienced an enthusiastic revival in the 1960s, particularly in psychedelic posters.