Sergey Solomko

ШУТ (Jester) by Sergey Solomko, Russian Art Nouveau folklore lithograph

1897

Elegantly-dressed society women observe silhouettes of Commedia dell’Arte characters Pierrot, Columbine, and Harlequin at the shadow play theater Le Cénacle. In a manner reminiscent...

Jules Chéret’s poster advertising the Théâtre Optique (Optical Theatre) immortalized a momentous convergence of technology, culture, history, and art with the 1892 debut of Emile Reynaud’s praxinoscope at the Musée Grévin in Paris. Reynaud presented his Pantomimes Lumineuses, the world’s first animated films, using his innovative system which projected light through moving pictures to offer illuminated pantomimes. Among the three short films Reynaud screened through his praxinoscope was Pauvre Pierrot (Poor Pierrot), a story of Pierrot courting Columbine based on the timeless archetypal love triangle featured in many Commedia dell’arte pantomimes. As a member of the Cercle Funambulesque (roughly “Friends of the Tightrope-walkers”), a French society which championed the contemporary creation of Commedia dell-arte-inspired pantomimes, Jules Chéret was often inspired by Pierrot and produced a large number of works depicting him, often with his beloved Columbine. Cheret’s involvement with the Cercle, combined with the immense popularity of these archetypes in the late 19th century, meant that they appeared frequently in his works. This work comes from the extremely scarce edition of 25 strikes on Imperial Japon paper, a mulberry bark-based stock inspired by the smooth-surfaced papers used in Japanese printmaking. This world-class example of lithography captures superior resolution and color-richness to that of its large-format counterpart. The use of marbled Imperial Japon paper allows inks to rest upon its surface rather than being absorbed by a more porous paper stock. An extremely scarce fraction of the edition of 25 are estimated to have survived to date. Stone lithograph of Jules Chéret’s Musée Grévin...

“One of Mucha’s best Czech posters, printed by the firm of V. Neubert in the Smichov quarter of Prague, was for Princezna Hyacinta, a fairy-tale ballet and pantomime with music by Oskar Nedbal and libretto by Ladislav Novák. The portrait of the popular actress Andula Sedlácková as the princess dominates the poster. The plot develops as a dream of a village blacksmith who falls asleep after digging for a buried treasure. In his dreams he becomes lord of a castle, and his daughter Hanicka becomes the Princess Hyacinth. Of her three suitors, one is a sorcerer who abducts her to his underground palace, but she is rescued by a poor knight who looks like her real-life lover. Mucha used the motif of the hyacinth throughout the entire design, from embroideries to silver jewelry, and for an elaborate circle sparkling against the mossy green background. The portrait of the actress is seen against a sky full of stars and encircled with images from the dream: the blacksmith’s tools...

"From: Ilsée, Princess of Tripoli Ilsee's Vision" is an original color lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-sided color lithographs from "Ilsee, Princesse de Tripoli," a ra...