Sarah Bernhardt theatre

Jeanne d’Arc – Sarah Bernhardt, Plate 174 – Eugène Grasset, 1899

Eugène Grasset (1845–1917)
Jeanne d’Arc – Sarah Bernhardt, 1899

A richly colored stone lithograph by Eugène Grasset, issued as Plate 174 in Les Maîtres de l’Affiche, the celebrated monthly series published by Jules Chéret at the Imprimerie Chaix in Paris between 1895 and 1900. Subscribers received four plates each month over five years, reproducing the most accomplished poster designs of the Belle Époque in reduced format. The complete series comprised 256 numbered plates created by the foremost artists of the day.

This plate portrays the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt in her celebrated role as Jeanne d’Arc. Grasset, a major figure of the Art Nouveau movement, combines stylized design with spiritual dignity, expressing both Bernhardt’s theatrical power and the idealized purity of the saint.

Details
Original stone lithograph on wove paper
Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris
From Les Maîtres de l’Affiche, Plate 174 (1899)
Sheet size: approximately 40 × 29 cm / 15.75 × 11.4 in.
Condition: Excellent; vivid impression on full sheet

Comments
An outstanding example from Les Maîtres de l’Affiche, uniting Grasset’s refined Art Nouveau style with the timeless image of Sarah Bernhardt as France’s national heroine.