Artist: ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939) Size: 17 3/8 x 43 3/8 in./44.2 x 110 cm Ustavy Unie, Praze The full name of this event being held in the South Moravian town was the “Agricultural-Industrial and Ethnographic Fair” and this poster “was conceived during Mucha’s first triumphal return to his home country after many years of study and commercial success abroad . . . As a fervent patriot who had become a celebrity, Mucha was eager to use the opportunity to do some work for his homeland . . . Mucha’s poster for a Czech . . . project shows him in top form, with Art Nouveau elements and curves rampant throughout the design. There are daisies, which symbolize Moravia to him the way the field poppy symbolizes northern France. Another touch of home are the two swallows at upper corners building their nests. And the heraldic crest of Moravia, a checkered eagle, fills the usual Mucha halo behind the girl” (Rennert/Weill, p. 302). This is the only known copy of this rare proof before letters.

B/ Slight tears at folds & edges.