“It is clear that Mucha understood well the principles of selling not the object itself, but the feeling that is associated with it. Here, he is barely showing a piece of the bicycle... but as to the pleasure of riding, this sylph has it all over any dreary mechanical details. Airily she caresses the machine, her windblown hair embodying motion and a restless spirit, a vision of idle loveliness and a perfect Mucha maiden. Her gaze at us is straight and direct, not flirtatious but inviting and challenging, daring us to take her on in a race... Mucha finally had a perfect subject that justified hair in motion, and he took full advantage of it, giving her the most dizzying configurations of his famous ‘macaroni’ [hair]. The Perfecta was an English brand bicycle, which makes this one of the very few Mucha posters for an English client. It was also sold in France” (Rennert/Weill, p. 294). This is the larger format.
Imp. F. Champenois, Paris
literature: Rennert/Weill, 81; Lendl/Prague, p. 125; Weill, 57; Mucha/Art Nouveau, 29; Petite Reine, 44; Encyclopédie/Weill, p. 44; Posters of Paris, 72; PAI-XCIII, 295
This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.