Le Lys

This colour lithograph in a narrow vertical format is titled The Lily (Le Lys) and was designed by Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). Le Lys is one of four panels from a series called The Flowers (Les Fleurs) that includes three other compositions titled The Rose (object number 21012B), The Carnation and The Iris. [1] Mucha exhibited two of the original watercolours from this series in his solo exhibition at the Salon des Cent in 1897. The complete set was published as chromolithographs in 1898.’ [2]

Printed directly onto silk satin, The Lily depicts a young woman surrounded by lilies. Crowned with lilies, Mucha presents the viewer with an elegant personification of the fresh beauty of the flower. The design betrays all of the classic Art Nouveau motifs associated with Le Style Mucha. Draped in fabric that clings to the sensuous curves of the female body, the woman is positioned at a slight angle to the viewer with her face titled upwards.

Alphonse Mucha was an early exponent of Art Nouveau in Paris, where he made a living as a painter, illustrator and graphic artist. Originally from Ivančice in Moravia Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Czech Republic), Mucha studied and worked in Vienna and Munich before moving to Paris in 1887. [3]

Mucha designed chromolithographs for the new ‘panneau décoratif’ genre that had been invented by the printing firm, Champenois. More affordable than paintings, decorative panels appealed to a broad public and sold rapidly. Decorative panels resemble today’s art posters and were designed ‘purely for artistic appreciation or decorating interior walls.’ [4] The absence of text distinguished them from other forms of graphic art that served as advertising.

The format of ‘The Flowers’ series is fairly flexible, allowing each design to be enjoyed separately or displayed as part of a quadriptych. Other popular series that followed this pattern included: The Seasons (1896), The Arts (1898) and The Precious Stones (1900).

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