This poster was designed by Alphonse Mucha as an advertisement for Job cigarette papers. It shows a glamorous female figure holding a book of cigarette papers in one hand, and a lit cigarette in the other. The name of the company appears at the top of the image, as well as on the brooch pinned to her dress, on the pattern in the yellow background, and on the cigarette papers. The woman's long, stylised hair floats in the air behind her; Mucha often used hair as a decorative motif in his posters. The model for this image was the figure of one of the Sibyls painted by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Physical description
Poster depicting a barefoot young woman wearing a pink evening dress and red flowers in her loose, black hair, watching smoke rise from her lit cigarette, set against a pale yellow patterned ground. In her other hand the woman holds a small black book of cigarette papers, with the word 'Job' inscribed on it.
Place of Origin
Paris, France (printed)
Date
before 1897 (printed)
Artist/maker
Mucha, Alphonse, born 1860 - died 1939 (designer)
F. Champenois (printer)
Materials and Techniques
Colour lithograph on paper
Marks and inscriptions
Mucha
Imp. F. Champenois, 66 Boul.d St. Michel, PARIS
Dimensions
Height: 140 cm, Width: 94.5 cm, Height: 163 cm, Width: 112 cm
Object history note
The design for this poster was No,125 in the exhibition 'Alphonse Mucha Art Nouveau 1890-1913', held at the Grosvenor Gallery, London, 21 May to 29 June 1963.
Descriptive line
'Job'. Poster advertising cigarette papers, designed by Alphonse Mucha. Illustrated with a young woman in a pink dress smoking. French, colour lithograph, ca.1896.
Labels and date
'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900'
This poster, like a later one of 1897 for Job cigarette papers, shows the designer Mucha's penchant for treating hair in a purely decorative way, the stylized tendrils forming an overall pattern, and echoing the curve of the lettering and the twisting pose of the girl herself. [1987-2006]
Materials
Paper
Techniques
Lithography; Planographic printing
Subjects depicted
Evening dresses; Cigarettes; Hair; Smoke; Glamour
Categories
Prints; Advertising; Posters
Collection code
PDP
