Posted 13 years ago
emersonest…
(123 items)
This is a wonderful Mucha Poster that appears to be original but I am not sure. The bottom says it is printed by Mourlot in Paris France. It is signed Mucha '99 and the title says Sarah Bernhardt. I don't know anything else about this piece and any information would be greatly appreciated: Age, Authentic, Value, Lithograph? Etc. Thank you very much
Is it backed on cardboard? The bottom left hand corner appears to show some sort of shellac covering. Curious. What are the dimensions? A backchannel email of the back would be helpful (pulvinar20@yahoo.com).
The poster has a styrofoam backer board but it is not glued to it. It is there to keep the shape and protect the print. Without measuring, the poster is about 18" wide and about 36"-42" tall. There is no shellac covering and the picture is of the direct print.
From my research, this is not an original first state. There were, from what I can tell, five different Bernhardt theatre posters in this long form style all of which were first printed in a very large size (approx. 83" high). Three smaller versions were then reproduced by Mourlot, of which yours would be one of the more standard and popular sizes (38" x 18"). As far as when Mourlot reprinted these, I could not tell from my research, but it was clear from what I read that Mourlot was a prolific poster printer and distributor well into the 1960s.
Less of a mystery and more of a matter of intrinsic or collector value, which in this case is the difference of about 1k-5K.