Biscuits Champagne Lefèvre Utile 1896

Alphonse Mucha created this advertisement for Biscuits Champagne Lefèvre-Utile using lithography, a printmaking technique that allows for mass production. The Art Nouveau style, with its flowing lines and elegant figures, lends an air of luxury to the biscuits. Mucha, however, was aware of the growing consumer culture of his time. Here, he wasn't just making an image, he was making an ad, and this was at a time when advertising was still a relatively new phenomenon. Lithography allowed for the relatively inexpensive creation of colorful posters, meaning that images like these could be widely disseminated, and capitalism gained a new tool. Consider, too, that the biscuits themselves were a product of industrialization, made possible by new technologies in food production. Mucha’s artwork invites us to consider the relationship between art, commerce, and the changing social landscape.