Collecting Mucha: An Evening with Jack Rennert
6–8pm
Ivan Lendl was a tennis champion who dominated the field in the 1980s, holding the World No. 1 spot for an incredible 270 weeks. He was proud of his Czechoslovakian heritage and particularly enamored with the incredible skill and seduction of Alphonse Mucha, Art Nouveau poster legend and fellow Bohemian. Lendl sought out Jack Rennert, a leading authority on Mucha, and together they scoured the world to assemble the largest and most complete collection of Mucha posters in existence. This collection also forms the inaugural exhibition at Poster House.
Rennert is a leading authority on many things poster-related, but Art Nouveau is his specialty. Join us for an evening with Rennert as he discusses how posters brought Art Nouveau to the streets and the enormous influence of the sensuous, colorful style. Rennert will also speak about how he put together one of the most admired poster collections of all time.
In addition to writing the catalogue raisonnée on the artist, Jack Rennert helped Ivan Lendl put together the largest and most complete collection of Mucha posters in the world. He has written over a dozen books on posters, and remains a leading authority on Alphonse Mucha. While guiding you through the galleries, he will be speaking about the process of building a museum quality collection as well as what to look for when evaluating vintage posters. Afterwards, he will be available to sign copies of Ivan Lendl: Alfons Mucha, his most recent book on the artist.
Tickets:
$25 General Admission
$50 Includes Signed Exhibition Catalog, Ivan Lendl: Alfons Mucha.
Shop & Café Open
MORE ABOUT JACK RENNERT
Rennert has written many books on posters, which include: The Posters of Leonetto Cappiello, Alphonse Mucha: the Complete Posters and Panels, The Poster Art of Tomi Ungerer, 100 Years of Bicycle Posters, 100 Years of Circus Posters, 100 Posters of Paul Colin, 100 Posters of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, and 100 Years of Dance Posters, among others. His book, Posters of the Belle Epoque, has sold over 30,000 copies. He is currently at work on a large study which will be the definitive catalogue of the graphics of Edward Penfield. He was the consultant for TimeLife Books for the posters section of the Collectibles Encyclopedia
Rennert has organized exhibitions of posters in many museums and institutions around the world, including the Lincoln Center Museum for the Performing Arts, Radio City Music Hall, the French Embassy, bank and commercial buildings in New York and Chicago, and several Japanese museums. He was consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Belle Epoque show in New York (1982-83).