Salon of the Hundred / Twentieth Exhibition

Original Language TitleSalon des Cent / XXme Exposition

Artist Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860 - 1939)

Printer Imprimerie Champenois (Paris, act. 1859 - 1927)

Date1896

MediumColor lithograph

DimensionsUnframed: 24 3/8 × 16 1/4 inches (61.91 × 41.28 cm)
Framed: 31 1/2 × 23 1/8 × 1 inches (80.01 × 58.74 × 2.54 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Donald D. Jones

Object number2001.3.175

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Prints

Terms

Exhibition History

Possibly Alphonse Mucha, Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, May 3–31, 1964, no. 64, as Salon des Cents. Poster 1896.

Art of Advertising, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 22–July 17, 2011, no cat.

Mucha’s Muses: Sarah Bernhardt and the Spirit of Art Nouveau, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 31, 2026–January 17, 2027, no cat.

Gallery Label

Mucha created this work for the Salon des Cent in Paris, the gallery of the avant-garde magazine La Plume. This luminous poster marked his debut with the publication. Featuring a half-draped muse framed by hair in flowing arabesques (ornamental curves), the design exemplifies his style. This work helped solidify Mucha’s fame, leading La Plume to sell his prints and honor him with a solo exhibition the following year.

Provenance

With Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, by March 26, 1964 [1];

Purchased from Kennedy Galleries, Inc. by the Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, Kansas City, MO, April 4–May 6, 1964 [2];

Purchased from the Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery by Donald D. Jones (1927–2000), Kansas City, MO, May 6, 1964–2000 [3];

Bequeathed by Jones to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2001.

NOTES:

[1] Albert Reese from Kennedy Galleries, Inc. wrote to Joan Kent Dillon (Mrs. George Dillon), who volunteered for the Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, on March 26, 1964, to inform her that they “recently acquired” this poster. See NAMA Archives Box: RG43/02.S01.11, Folder: 32; copy in NAMA curatorial file for letter.

[2] See memorandum from Kennedy Galleries, Inc. to The Friends of Art, April 4, 1964, NAMA Archives Box: RG43/02.S01.11, Folder: 32; copy in curatorial file. The Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery exhibited works by Alphonse Mucha from May 3 to May 31, 1964, including a Salon poster. The majority of the poster works were lent by the Griffin Gallery, New York. However, an inventoried list of works shipped by the Griffin Gallery does not include the Salon poster (see NAMA Archives Box: RG43/02.S01.11, Folder: 32). Therefore, it is possible that the poster purchased from the Kennedy Galleries was the one included in this exhibition. It was purchased by Jones within three days of the exhibition opening.

[3] See “Records of cash receipts,” the Friends of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, NAMA Archives Box: RG43/02.S01.09, Folder: 19; copy in NAMA curatorial file.

Published References

Roger Marx, Les Maîtres de l’Affiche 2 (1897): pp. VIII, X, pl. 94, (repro.), as 20^e Exposition du Salon des Cent.

La Plume (July 1, 1897): 403, (repro.).

Ann Bridges, ed., Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Graphic Works (London: Academy Editions, 1980), no. A7, pp. 51, 152, as Salon des Cent: XXme Exposition.

Jack Rennert and Alain Weill, Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Posters and Panels (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1984), no. 12, pp. 72–75, as Salon des Cent: XXeme Exposition.

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