Hamlet 1899

Alphonse Mucha's Hamlet of 1899 is theatre and Art Nouveau fused into a single, unforgettable image, made for the most audacious stage star of the age.

Mucha designed it for a French adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy prepared expressly for Sarah Bernhardt and staged at her own theatre in May 1899. The playwrights Eugene Morand and Marcel Schwob shaped the version for an actress unafraid of major male roles, a daring choice in an era that rarely allowed it. Mucha rises to the drama: Bernhardt appears in the title role as the brooding Danish prince, while a lower panel shows the tragic Ophelia drowned among the reeds, and behind the figure the nocturnal towers of Elsinore complete a masterwork of theatrical portraiture that reads from top to bottom like an illuminated page.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), the Czech master of Art Nouveau, gave the Belle Epoque poster its unmistakable grammar of arcing halos, flowing hair and jewelled ornament framing an idealised figure. The manner became so identified with him that it was called simply 'le style Mucha', and his images endure among the most reproduced in the history of decorative art. His long collaboration with Bernhardt yielded the most storied theatrical posters ever printed, of which Hamlet is a crowning example.

Art Nouveau spread across Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, sweeping aside academic rigidity for sinuous 'whiplash' lines, botanical ornament and dreamlike figures. It was the movement that first turned the advertising poster into genuine art and made the city street an open-air gallery.

Tall, dark-toned and richly narrative, this print is a commanding focal point. It suits a study, library, theatre room, hallway or bedroom, holds a wall above a desk or console with ease, and lends dramatic weight to a gallery arrangement of Mucha and Belle Epoque prints. For anyone who loves the stage, it doubles as a piece of theatre history you can live with every day, its narrative panels rewarding a second and third look.

Printed to order on premium 189 gsm museum-grade archival matte paper with fade-resistant pigment inks for rich, gallery-quality colour and crisp detail. Choose your size from the drop-down menu - 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30 or 24x36 inches. Carefully packaged and shipped rolled in a sturdy tube, or flat in the smallest size; frame not included.

This is a faithful fine-art reproduction of the original stone lithograph, colour-matched and printed to archival standards rather than a flat mass-market copy. It preserves the texture and character of the antique poster while arriving crisp, clean and ready to frame.

A striking gift for lovers of Shakespeare, theatre, Sarah Bernhardt and Art Nouveau - and a lasting way to bring dramatic Belle Epoque portraiture into a home, studio or workplace. Reproduced from a high-resolution scan of the original lithograph; subtle age-toning is part of its authentic historic character.