Our clients father purchased this original Mucha poster “La Trappistine” in Paris in 1968 for $150.00. Along with the fantastic Art Nouveau design of the poster it is also famous for the person who posed for the poster; American ingenue Sarah Bernhardt.
The poster had been badly conserved in Paris in the ’60’s but had been properly framed on it’s arrival in America, so the damage was limited to all that had occurred prior to 1968. Needless to say the value of the image had dramatically skyrocketed and so it was determined that now was the time to do things right.
We visited our clients vintage Wicker Park brownstone to look at the image "in situ" to discuss the possibilities. The first thing we noticed was the waviness of the poster, the missing paper, the staining and the old tape repairs. As the budget was limited we decided to tackle those aspects of repair that would bring the most visible benefits, stabilize the poster in an archival manner and leave the total “color repair” to a later date.
After the conservation repairs were complete the client visited our Oak Park store and chose a stunning double stacked frame with an Art Nouveau inner frame and Conservation U.V. plexiglass as a glazing. Note the paper repair in the lower left hand corner and the restoration of the printers signature.
This is just a small example of what is possible with modern conservation techniques. We delivered and installed the new frame back to our clients home.
