Moët & Chandon Cremant Imperial Champagne poster 1899 Alphonse Mucha
This beautiful, now famous Moët & Chandon Cremant Imperial Champagne poster was commissioned by the French fine champagne house in 1899. The company regularly used the artistic talents of the Czech artist Alfons Maria Mucha, known internationally as Alphonse Mucha. The poster was created to promote their Cremant Imperial champagne to the public. It is one of a set of three identical posters. Each features the same beautiful female figure, but has different wording for the three grades of their impeccable Imperial champagnes, ‘Dry’, ‘Cremant’ and ‘Grand Cremant’. The Moet & Chandon poster on this listing is for the Cremant Imperial brand of Moet’t champagne as can be verified by the beautiful elegant art nouveau inspired hand drawn lettering type at the foot of the poster. Mucha’s poster design, like so many of his designs, is a stunning blend of elegantly flowing lines, soft colours, and intricate details.
In this particular poster, Mucha has used a soft colour palette in hues of brown, pink, white, and blue. The beautiful and elegant, Byzantine-looking woman is depicted wearing a long, elaborately decorated pink dress and coordinating patterned robe. The robe seems to pour out of the front of the geometric framework. Her flowing garments are the epitome of the Art Nouveau style. The soft pinks, creams, and peaches are a subtle play on the colours of the champagne the poster advertises. The young woman holds a champagne glass in her right hand on which she wears an intricate bracelet with a dangling ornament featuring a small bird.
In the background behind the woman is a circular, stained glass window that appears like a halo around her head. a trademark of most of Mucha’s poster designs. There seems to also be a hint of a chair or perhaps even a throne with features of lion’s heads on the arms.
Despite being hugely influential on Art Nouveau at the start of the 1900s, Alfonse Mucha never associated himself with the movement. It is known that he disliked the term, arguing that art was eternal and therefore could never be merely “nouveau.” He always insisted that his main inspiration came from Czech traditions, rather than the doctrines of any particular school, following his own sense of the important spiritual purposes of art.
Alphonse Mucha posters
Alphonse Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in Ivančice in southern Moravia in the Austrian Empire, now part of the Czech Republic. Following his education, Mucha moved to Paris in 1888 where his career began as an illustrator for magazines such as La Vie Populaire, Le Petit Francais Illustre, La Costume au théâtre and Art et Decoration. His illustrations began to give him a regular income and led to book illustrations, including works for Guy de Maupassant’s novel The Useless Beauty, Charles Seignobos’s book Scenes and Episodes of German History, and a children’s book of poetry by Eugène Manuel.
At the start of 1895, Mucha’s career took a significant upturn when he created a poster for the French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. The story tells that Bernhardt called Maurice de Brunhoff, the manager of the publishing firm Lemercier which printed her theatrical posters. She rang on 26 December 1894 to order a new poster for her upcoming tour in the New Year. Because of the holidays, none of the regular artists were available, which forced Brunhoff to ask Mucha to quickly design the new poster for Bernhardt. What Mucha came up with is simply outstanding. The Sarah Bernhardt American Tour Poster was more than life-size; a little more than two meters high, with Bernhardt in the costume of a Byzantine noblewoman. She was portrayed in an orchid headdress and floral stole, holding a palm branch in the Easter procession near the end of the play. One of the innovative features of the posters was the ornate rainbow-shaped arch behind the head, almost like a halo, which focused attention on her face; this feature appeared in all of his future theatre posters. Probably because of a shortage of time, some areas of the background were left blank, without his usual decoration. The only background decoration was the mosaic tiles behind her head. The poster featured extremely fine draftsmanship and delicate pastel colours, unlike the typical brightly-coloured posters of the time. The top of the poster, with the title, was richly composed and ornamented and balanced the bottom, where the essential information was given in the shortest possible form: just the name of the theatre.
When the poster appeared on the streets of Paris on 1 January 1895 it caused an immediate sensation. Bernhardt was thrilled with the reaction and ordered four thousand copies of the poster in 1895 and 1896. She also gave Mucha a six-year contract to produce more. He went on to design posters for each successive Bernhardt play including La Dame aux Camelias, Lorenzaccio, Meda, La Tosca and Hamlet.
Mucha’s new found fame also brought Mucha commissions for many other companies. His clients included JOB cigarette papers, Ruinart Champagne, Lefèvre-Utile biscuits, Nestlé baby food, Idéal Chocolate, the Beers of the Meuse, Moët-Chandon champagne, Trappestine brandy, and Waverly and Perfect bicycles. With his Champenois lithographic print, Mucha created a print that contained no text and wasn’t created to advertise anything. Published in large print runs and sold for a modest price, the ‘decorative panel’ was a new kind of product, a lithograph print to be used purely for decoration. Mucha’s first decorative panel series was The Seasons, published in 1896, depicting four different women in extremely decorative floral settings representing the seasons of the year. In 1897 he produced an individual decorative panel of a young woman in a floral setting, called Reverie, for Champenois. He also designed a calendar with a woman’s head surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. The Seasons series was followed by The Flowers, The Arts (1898), The Times of Day (1899), Precious Stones (1900), and The Moon and the Stars (1902).
Although Mucha’s work stands alone in the Art Nouveau field, his beautiful and romantic posters and paintings influenced many artists and epitomise the Art Nouveau movement. Beautiful women posed against sensuous, botanical backdrops in a colour palette of subdued pastels, florid lines, decorative elements, and natural forms all became Mucha’s signature trademark.
How much is an original Moët & Chandon Cremant Imperial Champagne poster worth?
The Moët & Chandon Cremant Imperial Champagne poster is one of Alphonse Mucha’s most popular advertising posters and is highly sought after as an original stone lithographic print. As and when these rare posters do come to auction they easily command sales figures in excess of $12,000-$15,000. Even early reproduction copies sell for many hundreds of pounds. There’s no argument from us, if you can find an original copy and can afford to buy it, you’re on to a winner.
There’s nothing like owning an original vintage poster and they often make a great investment. Chances are in just a few years you’ll be able to sell it for more than you paid for it. Unfortunately, for most of us, an investment, even at the entry-level prices of the collectable poster isn’t even close to being a possibility. This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original and look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall. This one looks simply stunning. It’s a great way to add some vintage flair to your bar or kitchen, this poster is sure to please guests and make every occasion feel special. Whether you’re hosting a party or just enjoying a glass of bubbly, this Vintage Champagne Poster and a glass of champagne are the perfect way to celebrate! Order your print today.
