General German poster exhibition for trade, industry and agriculture 1903

This is a trade poster made by Alphonse Mucha, sometime around the turn of the last century, probably with lithographic ink on paper. Just imagine him drawing directly onto the stone, maybe with a grease crayon or tusche wash, building up the image line by line! I can almost feel the rhythm and focus he must have had. He was creating something solid and yet so ephemeral – an advert. I bet he didn't imagine we would be looking at it now. What I love about this poster is its mix of figure and architecture, juxtaposing modernity with the classical. Mucha was part of a whole conversation that was happening back then, with artists like Klimt and Beardsley. They were all trying to push against what they thought art could be, mixing the decorative with the serious. It is this constant give and take, this conversation across time and place that I find so exciting about painting and image-making.