Une mère - Brocéliande - Les flaireurs - Des mots! Des mots ! - Programme du théâtre de l'oeuvre 1896

This rare and beautifully composed theatre program from 1896 showcases the distinctive visual voice of Maxime Dethomas, one of the most refined illustrators of the Belle Époque. Created for a multi-play evening at Théâtre de l’Œuvre, the program is a glowing example of Art Nouveau design, steeped in the Symbolist spirit that defined the theatre’s groundbreaking vision.

Dethomas’s composition here is split between two arresting panels. On the left, a languid, stylized female figure peers introspectively beneath looping typography promoting the Revue encyclopédique Larousse, evoking the intersection between intellectualism and aestheticism. The right side presents a bold, mythological nude draped in an organic swirl of smoke or hair, a quintessential motif of Symbolist allegory. The linework is spontaneous yet deliberate, capturing both theatrical sensuality and spiritual elevation.

The list of performances—Une Mère, Brocéliande, Les Flaireurs, and Des mots ! Des mots !—illustrates the eclectic and experimental programming of Lugné-Poe’s Théâtre de l’Œuvre, which championed new voices and radical forms. These plays, unified by their departure from traditional realism, are supported by Dethomas’s visionary illustration, which provides a visual prologue to the poetic and abstract tone of the performances.

Printed in a limited run and designed as a folding playbill, this piece served both a promotional and artistic purpose. Dethomas’s collaboration with the theatre placed him at the very heart of Paris’s modernist movement, working alongside figures like Redon, Gide, and Maeterlinck.

Today, original illustrated programs from L’Œuvre—especially those signed by Dethomas—are highly sought after by collectors of Symbolist ephemera and early 20th-century graphic design. This particular example encapsulates the radical energy of a theatre that transformed the French stage, wrapped in the sensuous lines of one of its greatest visual interpreters.

Theater - Avant-Garde - France

Ref : Aitken 79

Good condition, small tears