Sarah Bernhardt (La Plume)
1896 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939)
- Year
- 1896
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Original size
- 77 × 57 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (department of Prints and Photography)
- Movement
- Art Nouveau
Sarah Bernhardt in profile, crowned with lilies and wearing the pearl collar of La Princesse Lointaine, is set inside a circle of stars against a mosaic ground, her name lettered around the rim. Mucha designed the image in 1896 as a poster for the journée Sarah Bernhardt, the celebration of the actress organised by the magazine La Plume on 9 December 1896, and it was sold as a decorative panel afterwards. It is his most concentrated portrait of her, the head alone inside the halo. 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 profile head in a circle of stars, in muted gold and violet, for a bedroom, dressing room or hallway at 16×24 or 24×36 in thin black or dark wood, no mat. It suits a white or dusty violet wall and pairs with Gismonda.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Art Nouveau painting
- Era
- 19th century (1896)
- 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 16×24. 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 Sarah Bernhardt (La Plume) in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Sarah Bernhardt (La Plume) 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.
