La Dame aux Camelias - Sarah Bernhardt (after) Alphonse Mucha, 1969

Artist: Alphonse Mucha

Medium: Lithographic Poster, 1969

Dimensions: 39.5 x 15.5 in, 100 x 39.4 cm

Classic Poster Paper - Perfect Condition A+

These beautiful and colorful lithographic posters were hand reproduced by the Mourlot Studio's Master Printer Henri Deschamps in 1969. They are not to be mistaken with later cheap digital and giclée reproductions. Ed. 1,500

In December of 1894, Mucha visited a print shop contracted to create a new advertising poster for a play featuring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris at the time. Mucha volunteered to produce a lithographic poster within two weeks, and on January 1, 1895, the advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou was posted in the city, where it attracted much attention. Bernhardt was so satisfied with the success of this first poster that she signed a six-year contract with the artist.

Written by Alexandre Dumas (son) when he was 23 years old, and first published in 1848, "La Dame aux Camélias" (The Lady with the Camellias) is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's brief love affair with the courtesan, Marie Duplessis. It was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set about putting the story to music. His work became the 1853 opera "La Traviata".