The French pioneers of poster art

The first artists to use poster art professionally emerged in Paris during the Belle Époque, in the 1870s to 1890s.

Jules Chéret had simplified colour lithography in the late 1860s by reducing the process to three stones. In doing so, he also created a new style of depiction: while the earlier multi-colour prints were more painterly and often showed very small-scale images, Chéret’s depictions were more two-dimensional and stylised.

Now artists without any special technical knowledge could also use lithography, and the printing technique with its design possibilities and brilliant colours supported the expressiveness of the posters.

Following in Chéret’s footsteps were Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the Swiss-born Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen and Eugène Grasset and others who surpassed Chéret’s pioneering work in terms of artistic quality.

With Alphonse Mucha, a Czech by birth, Parisian Art Nouveau experienced a particularly influential high point. After 1900, the Italian caricaturist Leonetto Cappiello succeeded Chéret and Toulouse-Lautrec in Paris. His posters often depicted humorous or unusual figures.

Jules Chéret, Jardin de Paris, 1897. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Le Chat noir, 1896. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Alfons Mucha, F. Champenois, 1897. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Leonetto Cappiello, Maurin Quina, 1906. Image: Artifiche AG

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