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artists as Jules Chéret, whose oeuvre is represented by a single large
maquette and one of the artist’s late posters, but was not afraid of such
challenging pieces as Eugène Grasset’s
La Vitrioleuse
.
Meyerhoff built a practical collection, buying art he could live with—
images he liked, as opposed to images that others thought he should
have. His walls were full, from the stairwells and the bathrooms to the
study, living room and guesthouse. They were all framed and he could
admire them on a day-to-day basis. He focused on posters and graphics
that appealed to him personally and professionally: horses and Art
Nouveau, specifically the work of Alphonse Mucha. While he may have
been restrained by the practical considerations of his abode, he went
about assembling the collection with a very personal eye. He was largely
assisted in this by famed Baltimore Art Nouveau dealer William Tomlinson.
In compiling this catalogue, we are indebted to prominent Mucha scholars
(Muchologists) around the world
,
who have all contributed thoughtful
writing on Mucha’s graphic work: Jack Rennert and Alain Weill, who
assembled the book
Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Posters and Panels
,
1984, and set the standard for subsequent researchers; Karel Srp, who
wrote the exhibition catalogue of the Ivan Lendl Collection in Prague; and
Anna Dvorák and Jana Brabcová-Orlíková, in
Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit
of Art Nouveau
, 1998. We also thank Christian Richet, whose website* is a
trove of great information on almost every printed work that Mucha
created. On the institutional side, we are grateful to our colleagues at the
Decorative Arts Museum in Prague, especially Petr Stembera who has
always been so generous with his knowledge. And, of course, we continue
to admire the work of the Mucha Trust, who promote the artist’s work and
strive to preserve and enlarge their existing collection.
Harry C. Meyerhoff amassed a collection remarkable not only for its
aesthetics, but also for its depth and variety. He was clearly attracted to the
beauty of these posters and sought out timeless and unique pieces that
celebrated the artistic achievements of Alphonse Mucha and the poster as
a medium. We are proud to be able to bring this to market, in the hope that
perhaps another generation will be influenced by this extraordinary work.
— Nicholas D. Lowry & Alain Weill
*
http://richet.christian.free.fr