July 2017 Auction Ends Thursday, July 27th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/27/2017
Alfons Mucha autograph letter twice-signed, dated 20 December 1899, the day that ''Le Pater'' was published. An Art Nouveau interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, Mucha considered ''Le Pater'' his masterpiece, and said that he put his soul into creating it. The devotion to his art in tangible in this letter, translated from French in full: ''Sir, I am truly heartbroken to have missed the opportunity to pay my respects to Madame Manuel on her kind visit yesterday. I would have liked to apologize to her for my long silence, which must not be interpreted as a sign of forgetfulness, but only, and to my great regret, as an involuntary consequence of the accumulation of work which keeps me so out of breath that I cannot find even the time necessary to sleep. But to the sad disappointment I felt at missing the pleasure of Madame Manuel's visit, there is added a sorrow no less intense, that it will be impossible for me to accept the charming invitation for next Sunday, for I have long ago promised to spend Christmas Day with my family who will arrive one of these next days to pass the holidays here and also to organize the participation of my country in the universal exposition [1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris]. / I ask, then, for permission to pay you a visit the first days of next month, to bring you my best wishes for the new year and also to return to you the drawing which I still have at my house. / With the prayer that you will kindly excuse me next Sunday, I ask you again to give my respects to Mme. Manuel, and I remain always yours, Monsieur, sincerely and whole-heartedly devoted / Mucha / If Madame Manuel, as she so kindly expressed her intention, would like to honor me with the visit of her nieces, I will certainly be in my studio on Saturdays from 5 to 7 o'clock; the rest of the time I am in my other studio 152 rue Vaugirard/Ronsin cul de sac in the back on the right where I am working on canvasses for the universal exposition, and at the same time I would like to invite you also to see it if that would interest you. / your Mucha''. Three page letter on Mucha's card-style stationery is printed with his Paris address of ''6 Rue du Val-de-Grace''. Measures 4.5'' x 5.5''. Vertical fold, else near fine. Accompanied by a 7.25'' x 11'' engraving of Mucha.
Art Nouveau Painter Alfons Mucha Autograph Letter Twice-Signed, Dated 20 December 1899, the Day ''Le Pater'' Was Published -- ''...the accumulation of work which keeps me so out of breath...''
Click above for larger image.