Jules Chéret (31 May 1836 – 23 September 1932) was a French painter and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

who became a master of ''

Belle Époque The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...

poster art A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...

. He has been called the father of the modern poster.

Early life and career

Born in Paris to a poor but creative family of artisans, Chéret had a very limited education. At age thirteen, he began a three-year apprenticeship with a lithographer and then his interest in painting led him to take an art course at the École Nationale de Dessin. Like most other fledgling artists, Chéret studied the techniques of various artists, past and present, by visiting Paris museums. From 1859 to 1866, he was trained in lithography in London, England, where he was strongly influenced by the British approach to poster design and printing. On returning to France, Chéret created vivid poster ads for the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

s, and theaters such as the Eldorado, the Olympia, the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

, Théâtre de l'Opéra, the Alcazar d'Été and the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Ol ...

. He created posters and illustrations for the satirical weekly '' Le Courrier français''. According to the poster collector Ernest Maindron, who wrote the first essay about the illustrated poster in the '' Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' in 1884, and later published the first book on the subject (''Les Affiches Illustrees'') in 1886, Chéret, along with the brothers Léon and

Alfred Choubrac Alfred Choubrac (Paris, 30 December 1853 – Paris, 25 July 1902) was a French painter, illustrator, draughtsman, poster artist and costume designer. Together with Jules Chéret he is considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern coloured a ...

, was among the pioneers of the illustrated poster.Maindron, ''Les affiches Illustrées (1886-1895)'', p.23; 51-55Collins, Bradford R. (1985).
The Poster as Art; Jules Chéret and the Struggle for the Equality of the Arts in Late Nineteenth-Century France
', Design Issues, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 41-50 In the early 1870s, Chéret and the Choubrac brothers reduced the cost of colour lithography introducing technical advances.Verhagen, ''The poster in Fin-de-Siècle Paris''
p. 107
/ref>

Growing popularity

Jules Cheret--Zezette--novel--1891--Oscar Méténier

His works were influenced by the scenes of frivolity depicted in the works of

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

artists such as

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ...

and Antoine Watteau. So much in demand was he, that he expanded his business to providing advertisements for the plays of touring troupes, municipal festivals, and then for beverages and liquors, perfumes, soaps, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Eventually he became a major advertising force, adding the railroad companies and a number of manufacturing businesses to his client list. As his work became more popular and his large posters displaying modestly free-spirited women found a larger audience, pundits began calling him the "father of the women's liberation." Women then had previously been depicted in art as prostitutes or puritans. The women of Chéret's posters, joyous, elegant and lively—'Cherettes', as they were popularly called—were neither. It was freeing for the women of Paris, and heralded a noticeably more open atmosphere in Paris where women were able to engage in formerly taboo activities, such as wearing low-cut bodices and smoking in public. These 'Cherettes' were widely seen and recognised, and a writer of the time said "It is difficult to conceive of Paris without its 'Cheréts' (sic)." In 1895, Chéret created the Maîtres de l'Affiche collection, a significant art publication of smaller sized reproductions featuring the best works of ninety-seven Parisian artists. His success inspired an industry that saw the emergence of a new generation of poster designers and painters such as Charles Gesmar and

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

. One of his students was

Georges de Feure Georges de Feure (real name Georges Joseph van Sluijters, 6 September 1868 – 26 November 1943) was a French painter, theatrical designer, and industrial art designer in the symbolism and Art Nouveau styles. De Feure was born in Paris. His fa ...

. In his old age Chéret retired to the pleasant climate of the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

. He died in 1932 at the age of ninety-six and was interred in the Cimetière Saint-Vincent in the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

quarter of Paris.

Legacy

He was awarded the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

by the French Government in 1890 for his outstanding contributions to the graphic arts. Although his paintings earned him a certain respect, it was his work creating advertising posters, taken on just to pay his bills but eventually his dedication, for which he is remembered today. The award was given to him for creating an art form that meets the needs of Commerce and industry. Edmond de Goncourt recognized Chéret as "the first painter of the Paris wall, the inventor of the art in the poster" when he toasted the artist at the banquet held in his honor. In 1933 he was honoured with a posthumous exhibition of his work at the prestigious

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...

in Paris. Over the years, Chéret's posters became much sought after by collectors from around the world.

Selected works

File:Cheret, Jules - Les Palais de Glace.jpg, ''Palais des Glaces'' File:Cheret, Jules - Les Saxoleine.jpg, ''Saxoléine'',
''Pétrole de sureté'' File:Cheret, Jules - Taverne Olympia (pl 217).jpg, ''Taverne Olympia, Restaurant'' File:Cheret, Jules - Pippermint (pl 213).jpg, ''Pippermint'',
''Get Frères'' File:Cheret, Jules - Pan (pl 81).jpg, ''Pan'',
''a Journal of Satire'' File:Cheret, Jules - Carnivale Poster.jpg, ''Théâtre de l'Opéra'',
''Carnaval 1894'' File:Cheret, Jules - Paris Courses (pl 61).jpg, ''Hippodrome de la Porte Maillot, Paris Courses'' File:Cheret, Jules - L´Amant des Danseuses (pl 45).jpg, ''L'Amant des Danseuses Roman Moderniste''
''par Félicien Champsaur'' File:Cheret, Jules - Emilienne d´Alencon (pl 113).jpg, ''Folies Bergères'',
'' Émilienne d’Alençon'' File:Cheret, Jules - Concert des Ambassadeurs (pl 165).jpg, ''Concert des Ambassadeurs'',
''Champs-Élysées'' File:Cheret, Jules - Le Pays des Fees (pl 181).jpg, ''Exposition Universelle 1889, Le Pays des Feés'' File:Cheret, Jules - Casino d´Enghien (pl 129).jpg, ''Casino d'Enghien'' File:Cheret, Jules - L´Aureole du Midi (pl 233).jpg, ''L´Aureole du Midi'',
''Pétrole de sureté'' File:Cheret, Jules - Eau des Sirenes (pl 153).jpg, ''Recoloration des Cheveux par l'Eau des Sirènes''

References

Sources

* Maindron, Ernest (1896).
Les affiches Illustrées (1886-1895)
', Paris: G. Boudet * Verhagen, Marcus, ''The poster in Fin-de-Siècle Paris: "That Mobile and Degenerate Art"'', in: Charney, Leo & Vanessa R. Schwartz (eds.) (1995).
Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life
', Berkeley (CA): University of California Press,

External links

Jules-Cheret.org
Hundreds of works by Jules Chéret *, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
fully available online as PDF
, which contains material on Chéret (pp. 10, 93, 111, 146, 148, 149, 150, 203, 204, 126)
High Res Images of Jules Chéret available for download
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheret, Jules 1836 births 1932 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French poster artists French lithographers Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau illustrators Painters from Paris 20th-century French printmakers 19th-century French male artists Belle Époque 19th-century lithographers 20th-century lithographers