Lance Parfum Rodo

In Lance Parfum Rodo (1896), the woman’s blonde hairstyle may have been the inspiration for Marilyn Monroe’s hairstyle in the 1940s.

She is holding a vial of perfume in her right hand. In her left hand, she is holding a bunch of white lace (perhaps a handkerchief), onto which she is spraying the jet of perfume.

The fanciful and luxurious clothes (made of green flowers) suggest the target audience for the perfume is those who can afford to keep their skin, nails and hair clean and flawless.

Behind her, a concentric set of dark green bricks acts like a target on a dartboard, focusing your eyes on the product and her face.

Surrounding the concentric ring is a thicker circular boarder, where pink flowers are spaced equally, on top of a blue background.

The colours in this rotational symmetry pattern contrast with the greens and natural skin tones of her attractive face.

The decorative nature of the composition, and the exclusively of the perfume all combine to present a product that is sought after by many ladies, but affordable for a few.

Between 1895 and 1898, Alphonse Mucha was at the peak of his creativity.

His unique artistic style, coupled with his growing collection of distinctive yet natural motifs and forms, meant that every company was desperate to commission him to design and produce their next advertising poster or brochure.

Alphonse Mucha’s use of the stylised female form as the centerpiece in his artwork (to seduce and allure potential customers), became a consistent pictorial motif for his advertisements. The lone female often appears to be thinking or concentrating on something, while her hair blows in the wind, or cascades around her shoulders, or her hair is styled in a fanciful pattern.