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Produced at the height of Mucha's fame in 1898, the Art Series was printed on vellum in an edition of 1000 copies, with an additional 50 limited edition copies printed on satin. The series consists of four lithographs representing allegories of Dance, Poetry, Painting and Music.
Mucha discarded traditional attributes such as musical instruments, paintbrushes and quills. Instead, he emphasised the creative inspiration of natural beauty by giving each of the arts a circular backdrop featuring a motif from nature indicating a particular time of day: for Dance falling leaves blown by a morning breeze; for Painting a red flower encircled by rainbows in fresh daylight; for Poetry the evening star shining in the sky at dusk; for Music the song of birds at moonrise.
Dance, the most sensual of the series, is the sole standing figure. Her sinuous figure and long auburn hair sway in the autumn breeze.
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