Jules Chéret

As a lithographer, printer, designer, painter, decorator and illustrator, Jules Chéret was a prominent figure in Parisian art and literary circles at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. His pioneering poster art, which covers a wide range of subjects from circuses, concerts and exhibitions to ready-made fashion, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and press products, thanks to the increased demand brought about by the liberalisation of the media, the development of the rail network and the upturn in economy and trade. Jules Chéret developed a striking individual style in the neo-rococo tradition, but that also displayed the first modern elements which were to fascinate impressionists like Georges Seurat.

Jules Chéret is a pioneer of the modern advertising poster. Through the use of colour lithography he developed commercial posters into an independent art form and contributed to the transformation of the urban image of the art metropolis Paris with his enormous production of colour posters and advertising art. The effect of his work wasn’t only noticeable in public spaces, but artists like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec also consequently adopted the medium and developed its visual language further.