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ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860-1939)
215
●
RUSSIA RESTITUENDA. 1922.
31
1
/
8
x18
3
/
8
inches, 79
1
/
8
x46
1
/
2
cm. Melantrich, Prague.
Condition A / A-: minor creases, abrasions and slight darkening in margins. Framed.
This, “one of Mucha’s most moving posters . . . was a plea for help for starving Russian children during
the war between the Bolsheviks and the White Russians. Between 1918 and 1922, the economic
situation in Russia became desperate, and western countries including the United States sent shipments
of food and grain. The Russian government had to allow partial restoration of previously nationalized
private land so that the land could be more efficiently cultivated. The title of the poster consists of only
two words in Latin [‘Restore Russia’], which can be understood by the speakers of many languages. It
means Russia must be restored to conditions suitable for human life. Mucha elevated the sorrowful
woman holding an exhausted child beyond the meaning of Mother Russia with her gaunt ward by
placing circular forms behind their heads, invoking the halos of the Madonna with the Christ child. Two
wounded doves in the upper corners signify a Slavic nation that would die without aid, and the hearts
in the lower corners express hope in human compassion” (Spirit of Art Nouveau p. 181). Lendl p. 288,
Brno 69, Grand Palais A76, Rennert / Weill 109, Mucha / Henderson 111, Mucha / Bridges A68,
Triumph des Jugendstils 211, Spirit of Art Nouveau 40.
[2,000/3,000]