Alphonse Mucha—the Four Seasons—4 Art Nouveau Lithographs—champenois—1897

Alphonse MUCHA (1860–1939)

The Four Seasons – 1897
Complete set of four color lithographs – text-free version

Rare and highly decorative complete set of the four prints from The Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, part of the famous second series dedicated by Alphonse Mucha to the theme of the seasons.

These compositions were designed specifically for use in the Chocolat Masson / Chocolat Mexicain advertising calendar for the year 1897.

The particular appeal of our set lies in its version without advertising text: the cartouches above the compositions, as well as the calendar spaces at the bottom, have been left blank.

This layout is not accidental. Mucha and the printer F. Champenois in Paris had planned a version that left these spaces available so that the panels could later be filled with the name of a sponsor, a calendar, or other advertising text.

It was precisely this principle that allowed them to be used for the Chocolats Masson calendar.

The four panels depict the seasons in the form of young women, in a composition characteristic of Mucha’s style: long hair, drapery, vegetation, flowers, and arabesques, rendered in a subtle range of pastel tones and gold highlights.

Each print bears the signature “Mucha” on the plate.

Original color lithographs on paper.
Prints of the version without text / with blank cartouches.
Paris, F. Champenois, 1897.

Dimensions:
Each sheet: approximately 42.5 × 14.5 cm.

The four lithographs are presented separately under glass, with green mat and gold frame.

Very good overall condition.

Fresh and particularly pleasing colors. Very well preserved overall, considering the age of the works.

This series is particularly interesting within Mucha’s body of work because it straddles the line between Art Nouveau decorative panels and advertising design. Following the success of his first series, The Seasons, Champenois commissioned new compositions from Mucha, including this version used for the Chocolat Masson calendar.

The spaces intentionally left blank allowed for adaptation to different clients.

The 1897 Chocolat Masson calendar is also directly cataloged in France’s national collections.

Complete set of the four seasons sold as a single lot