Cycles Perfecta
1902 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939)
- Year
- 1902
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Original size
- 52 × 35 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (department of Prints and Photography)
- Movement
- Art Nouveau
A young woman with a wild mass of hair leans over the handlebars of a bicycle, her hair streaming in the wind, under the lettering Cycles Perfecta. Mucha designed the poster in 1902 for the Perfecta bicycle, one of several he made for cycle makers, and here the whole design is a pretext for the hair, which he drew as if it were the energy of the ride itself; the bicycle is barely more than a wheel and handlebars. Printed by F. Champenois, Paris. The impression reproduced is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
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 wind-blown head of hair over handlebars, in soft golds and greens, for a hallway, bike room or bedroom at 12×18 or 16×24 in thin black or dark wood, no mat. It suits a white or cream wall and pairs with Waverley Cycles.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Art Nouveau painting
- Era
- 20th century (1902)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, anniversary, her, 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 Cycles Perfecta in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Cycles Perfecta 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.
The full-bleed edition
The painting printed edge to edge, filling the whole sheet (very slightly cropped to fit) — and available on gallery-wrapped canvas.
