Iris
1898 · Colour lithograph (Les Maîtres de l'Affiche plate after the poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Adolfo Hohenstein (1854–1928)
- Year
- 1898
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (Les Maîtres de l'Affiche plate after the poster)
- Original size
- 39 × 29 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, reduced plate)
- Movement
- Art Nouveau
The heroine of Mascagni's opera Iris, in a flowing gown, rises among irises against a pale sky, under the lettering Iris and the names of the composer and the publisher Ricordi. Hohenstein designed the poster in 1898 for the opera's first production in Rome, and it is one of the earliest Italian posters in the Art Nouveau manner, the Stile Liberty, which he introduced to Ricordi's posters. This is the reduced version issued in 1899 as plate 180 of Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, printed by Chaix in Paris; the original poster was about two metres tall. The impression reproduced is from the Bibliothèque nationale de France's copy of the series.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A pale figure among irises in soft green and violet, for a bedroom, music room or hallway at 12×18 or 16×24 in thin black or dark wood, no mat. It suits a white or sage wall and pairs with Grasset's Exposition des Artistes Décorateurs.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Art Nouveau painting
- Era
- 19th century (1898)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cornflower blue
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 12×18. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Iris in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Iris painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.


























