Maude Adams 1909

Alphonse Mucha dreamed up this image of Maude Adams as Joan of Arc, probably using pencil and watercolour, I'd guess, sometime around the turn of the 20th century. I like to think of Mucha as being caught up in the theatricality of the stage, which here becomes a kind of threshold. The figure seems lost in reverie, on the cusp of a dramatic transformation, maybe even a little scared. She’s caught in a floral vortex, a very “now you see it, now you don’t” state. I like the decorative border surrounding the figure—it almost feels like the edge of a stage set. Mucha brings everything together here with art nouveau, adding depth and a touch of the otherworldly. There’s a rhythm between what’s solid and what’s ethereal, what’s defined and what isn’t, a real sense of push and pull.