Poster advertising C. Bechstein Pianos
Louis John Rhead
ca. 1896 · Color lithograph · Drawings and Prints
Rhead's advertisement for C. Bechstein pianos exemplifies the artist's art nouveau style, defined by flat planes of unmodulated color punctuated by fine details. It features a woman wearing a laurel crown playing a piano emblazoned with the advertiser's name as a choir of winged angels hovers above, invoking associations between music and Greek mythology that are part of a long artistic tradition in the West. A text box at lower right that lists the company's royal patrons attests to Bechstein's popularity among the court and upper class clients in Europe in the 1890s.
- Artist
- Louis John Rhead
- Date
- ca. 1896
- Medium
- Color lithograph
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Leonard A. Lauder Collection of American Posters, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2021