Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings Signed, dated, and inscribed: (lower left) Mucha / 1909; (bottom) MAUDE ADAMS as JOAN of ARC
Gallery Label Painted in Chicago in 1909, this picture depicts the American actress Maude Adams in the role of Joan of Arc in Schiller's "Die Jungfrau von Orleans" ("The Maid of Orleans"), in which she performed on June 21, 1909, at Harvard University. The portrait was made specifically for the one-night gala performance and was displayed as a poster for the event. Mucha also designed the costumes and sets and supervised the direction. Afterwards, at the actress's request, the painting served as the lobby poster for the Empire Theater in New York, where Adams regularly performed. Mucha designed the ornate, gilded frame.
Provenance A. J. Kobler, New York (until 1920)
Exhibition History New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Behind American Footlights," February 4–September 5, 1949, no catalogue.
Baltimore. Mount Royal Station Gallery. "Poster Artist Mucha," October 9–31, 1973, no. 49.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "La Belle Époque," December 6, 1982–September 4, 1983, unnum. checklist.
San Diego Museum of Art. "Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau," February 28–April 26, 1998, no. 96 (as "Portrait of Maude Adams as Joan of Arc").
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen. "Jeanne d'Arc: Les tableaux de l'Histoire, 1820–1920," May 30–September 1, 2003, no. 82.
Washington. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America," November 18, 2006–January 21, 2007, unnumbered cat. (fig. 80).
References Jirí Mucha. Alphonse Mucha: The Master of Art Nouveau . Prague, 1966, p. 239, pl. 258.in Alphonse Mucha: Posters and Photographs . London, 1971, p. 60, fig. 51.Poster Artist Mucha . Exh. cat., Mount Royal Station Gallery. Baltimore, 1973, p. 18, no. 49, ill. (frontispiece, color).in Alfons Mucha: 1860–1939 . Exh. cat., Darmstadt Mathildenhöhe. Munich, 1980, pp. 52, 321, under no. 342, p. 376.Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Posters and Panels . Boston, 1984, pp. 330–32, no. 96, ill. (color).Alphonse Maria Mucha: His Life and Art . London, 1989, p. 234.Mucha: Le Triomphe du modern style . Paris, 1992, p. 174.in Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau . Exh. cat., San Diego Museum of Art. Alexandria, Va., 1998, pp. 38, 266–69, no. 96, ill. (color).in Jeanne d'Arc: Les tableaux de l'Histoire, 1820–1920 . Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen. Paris, 2003, pp. 151, 170, no. 82, ill. p. 148 (color).in Nora M. Heimann and Laura Coyle. Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America . Exh. cat., Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 2006, pp. 63–64, fig. 80 (color).
Add to My Met Gallery
Print
List View
Enlarge
Zoom