Alphonse MUCHA (1860-1939) - Lot 136

Alphonse MUCHA (1860-1939) Frederick Barbarossa receives the Milanese in Lodi after the destruction of their city, 1891. Gray wash, pen and ink. Signed and dated lower left. (Small stains and holes). 45 x 33.5 cm Bibliography : Charles Seignebos, Scènes et Épisodes de l'Histoire de l'Allemagne, illustration by Alphonse Mucha and Georges Rochegrosse, Paris, Armand Collinet Cie Éditeurs, 1898. In 1892, Alphonse Mucha was commissioned by publisher Armand Colin to illustrate the book Scènes et Épisodes de l'Histoire de l'Allemagne by French historian Charles Seignobos (1854-1942). The original illustrations and proofs for this book were exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1894 and then at the artist's first major solo show in Paris at Galerie La Bodinière in 1897. The artist's success in the French capital was at its height at the time, and in late 1894 he began collaborating with actress Sarah Bernhardt on posters for her shows, the first of which, "Gismonda", is the most famous.