La Rose

This colour lithograph is titled The Rose (La Rose) and was designed by Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). La Rose is one of four panels from a series called The Flowers (Les Fleurs) that includes three other compositions titled The Lily (object number 21012A), 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 Rose depicts a young woman surrounded by roses. Her curling locks of hair are entwined with roses and thorny stems spiral dynamically around her body. The design betrays all of the classic Art Nouveau motifs associated with Le Style Mucha and his interpretation of the femme fatale. Draped in fabric that clings to the sensuous curves of the female body, the woman raises her eyes to stare seductively at the viewer.

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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