Leslie Carter (1908)

Mucha used the tall format and style of his Bernhardt posters in this design for the American silent film and stage actress, Mrs Leslie Carter (née Caroline Louise Dudley).

The poster announces her new play, Kassa, which tells the tale of a Hungarian virgin who intends to join a convent when she is seduced by a prince and falls pregnant. The prince abandons her and she loses her mind.

Mucha portrays the stunned Kassa surrounded by symbols: lilies to symbolise her former purity; red hearts to symbolise love and wreaths of thorns to symbolise suffering.

The play was a flop, Mrs Leslie Carter was declared bankrupt and Mucha was never paid for this work.