Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau/Nouvelle Femme

June 20–October 6, 2019
Sarah Bernhardt and Mucha posing in ceiling to floor photos inlaid on gallery walls.

Alphonse Mucha, born in Moravia, came to Paris in 1887. Over the next 8 years, he emerged from obscurity to become the most celebrated graphic designer of the Art Nouveau movement. His intricate designs and gorgeous subjects were so popular that he produced pattern books for fellow designers and students, and his publishers repurposed his advertisements for hundreds of other products.

“I predict you will be famous”

—Sarah Bernhardt

But his style and status all started when he met the legendary Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of her day. Mucha’s first poster for her not only launched his graphic design career, but elevated her fame, as the public buzz for the image was completely unprecedented.

From that moment on, Mucha used alluring, strong women to advertise everything from cookies to bicycles, alcohol to rolling papers. These women were part of a budding 20th-Century world wherein they had newfound independence and social agency. Through them, Mucha changed the world of advertising and brought Art Nouveau to the streets.

This collection comes to Poster House through a generous loan from the Richard Fuxa Foundation, which houses the most complete collection of Alphonse Mucha and is one of the preeminent supporters of Czech heritage and art.

Curator
Angelina Lippert
Exhibition Design
Ola Baldych
Located
Poster House, Main Gallery & Programs Gallery
Visitor Information
Allot approximately 1 hour
Parental Guidance
This exhibition is rated PG for classic nudes
Audio
Listen
Share this Exhibition
Archived Exhibition
Download

Press

“Posters can pack an emotional punch… There are several poster museums around the world, but this is the only one in the US.”
— CUNY TV, APRIL 19, 2022
“You’ll find it at Poster House, the city’s newest and, perhaps, coolest museum.”
— NEW YORK POST, AUGUST 9, 2021
“No better figure could have been chosen for one of the opening exhibitions at the Poster House…”
— THE WEEK, JULY 19, 2019
“…Poster House joins the roster of must-visit art destinations in NYC.”
— COOL HUNTING, JULY 9, 2019
“Mucha made a hundred and nineteen posters during his career, and the Poster House exhibition collects all but three of them.”
— THE NEW YORKER, JULY 1, 2019
“…the inaugural exhibition is a deep-dive into the work of one of the most famous poster designers in history—the Czech artist and graphic designer Alphonse Mucha.”
— THE ART NEWSPAPER, JUNE 27, 2019
“…perhaps above all, the museum seeks to bring posters to the foreground of design collections.”
— SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, JUNE 21, 2019
“The Poster House presents a novel take, exploring his depiction of the bold new women of Belle Époque Paris and how it shaped the face of advertising.”
— JUXTAPOZ, JUNE 20, 2019
“Fans of graphic design have reason to rejoice.”
— QUARTZ, JUNE 20, 2019
“Poster House aims to satisfy the longstanding desire of collectors and fans for an American-based poster museum.”
— NBC NEW YORK, JUNE 20, 2019
“The museum so far has a collection of around 7,000 international posters, from the medium’s beginnings in the 1870s to recent campaigns.”
— THE ART NEWSPAPER, JUNE 20, 2019
“The museum…is taking a scrappy and focused approach to a genre that really took off as a medium in the late 1860s and has become so omnipresent that some may forget that it can be art.”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES, JUNE 20, 2019
“The inaugural exhibitions at the Poster House show just how far the art form has come.”
— ART & OBJECT, JUNE 19, 2019
“‘Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau/Nouvelle Femme’ brings together his work for the first time in New York since 1923.”
— THE NEW CRITERION, JUNE 18, 2019
“There will now be a museum in New York City that is going to give you extreme poster envy.”
— CHELSEA COMMUNITY NEWS, JUNE 18, 2019
“There are only a few poster museums in the world…but New York is about to get a new one.”
— THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, JUNE 17, 2019
“The museum’s agenda will be global and diverse…”
— HYPERALLERGIC, JUNE 5, 2019
“…a colorful lesson on the history of posters around the world.”
— AMNEWYORK, MAY 31, 2019
“The first will be dedicated to Alphonse Mucha, the Art Nouveau designer who with his posters defined the romantic aesthetic of Paris.”
— ANSA, MAY 30, 2019
“…the history of the medium is explored in unprecedented depth with examples from all over the world and throughout history.”
— THE GUARDIAN, MAY 28, 2019
“Poster House takes its mission from the medium, aiming to entertain and educate all audiences.”
— ARTDAILY, MAY 19, 2019

Selected Images

A poster of a face with long hair and an embroidered headpiece while the zodiac signs are behind them.
A poster of a figure sitting on a beach with a floral and colorful bird halo behind and around her.
A poster of a figure with long blond hair and holding a cigarette with smoke in the background.
A poster of a semi nude figure covering light from their head with their hand and holding a sheer fabric.
A poster of a woman in a white dress talking to a man in a tuxedo as flowers overlay them.
A poster of a female in white standing by a balcony with metallic snow falling behind her.
A poster of a person with a floral crown and holding a bloody knife as person is on the floor.
A poster of a figure with orange updo hair that matches their dress as they lean on a bicycle.
A poster of a female sitting on a rock and leaning on a floral branch as they dip their feet in water.
A poster of a woman in a green dress leaning on a statue beside flowers with a circular design behind.