Gismonda

Alphonse Mucha designed this poster for a new production of Victorien Sardou's play "Gismonda" at the Théâtre de la Renaissance. The commission arrived during the Christmas holidays in 1894, when the printer Lemercier's regular artists were unavailable and the opening was only days away. Sarah Bernhardt, who both directed the theatre and starred in the production, approved Mucha's unexpected design and later used it during her 1896 American tour. Its success made the little-known Czech illustrator famous in Paris and led Bernhardt to employ him for six years. Mucha had moved to Paris after training and working in Moravia, Vienna, and Munich, and the commission transformed his career from book illustration to major theatrical and commercial design. The poster became the starting point for the decorative language later known as le style Mucha and closely associated with Art Nouveau.