By 1894, Alphonse Mucha had been living in Paris for six years, an unremarkable Czech illustrator making a modest income. A chance encounter with one of the most popular actresses of the day would soon propel his art onto the world stage. <br><br>On Boxing Day 1894, Mucha was finishing some work at Lemercier, a print house, when actress Sarah Bernhardt called. With the regular artists out enjoying festivities, Mucha accepted Bernhardt's commission for a theatrical poster advertising her role in Victorien Sardou’s <em>Gismonda</em>, to be produced in time for the New Year.<br><br>The <em>Gismonda</em> posters appeared in the streets of Paris on New Year’s Day 1895 and caused an immediate sensation<sup>1</sup>. Posters were already popular in Paris: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s <em>Moulin Rouge: La Goulue</em> (1891) sparked a trend for posters with bright, bold colours and playful typography. However, Mucha’s poster broke the mould. Its long, scroll-like form, ornamentation and pale colouring were novel, becoming a precursor to Art Nouveau<sup>2</sup>. Picked out in peach, ochre, and pale green, Sarah Bernhardt is depicted dressed in an undulating robe intricately patterned with floral motifs. The whiplash curves of ornamentation, effected in a sombre, elegant palate, is a defining feature of Art Nouveau. <br><br>Bernhardt immediately hired Mucha as her artistic director.<sup>3</sup> By 1900 he had risen from minor illustrator to one of Paris’s most sought-after artists, exhibiting extensively at the Universal Exhibition: “the greatest event of the century”<sup>4</sup>. Bernhardt, for her part, was immortalised as an icon in the artist's unmistakable style.<br>