Alphonse Mucha

Last night I was upset to learn I had lost my favorite Mucha poster, a mass market copy of Bieres de la Meuse. I looked for it everywhere, lastly peeking even online where I found this great post on the artist at linesandcolors.com.

If you enjoy Mucha too you might want to check out his gallery on the Mucha Foundation website, which features descriptions of a handful of his posters, drawings, paintings, and sculptures.

Mucha also created many beautiful drawings, which can be seen in the book Drawings of Mucha. Amazon.com offers a "look inside" preview of this book, which gave me at least two or three pages of instant gratification.

As for my particular poster, I can always buy it again, though I might wait until those lottery tickets pay off and get an authentic one. In 2004 one of these treasures sold at auction for $39,100.

It was such an iconic picture that in 1899 French artist Adolphe Willette drew a scene after it in which a little girl mistakes the main figure for a saint, and kneels down before it.