Poster
1893 (produced)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Jules Chéret (1836-1932) is known as the Maître de l'Affiche, or the 'Father of the poster'. This is primarily due to his ground breaking developments in the colour lithographic process, but can also be attributed to his prolific output and ostentatious style: Chéret was capable of rendering even the most banal of subjects sensational. His posters were so popular with the Parisian public that it was rumoured devotees would go out in the middle of the night in order to remove his posters from the walls and add them to their collection.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph on paper |
Brief description | Colour lithograph for the 'Folies-Bergère, l'Arc en Ciel, Ballet-Pantomime' by Jules Cheret, France 1893. |
Physical description | Depicts a harlequin, a clown with an artist's palette, a man in 18th-century French costume and young woman in a yellow hat dancing under a rainbow. |
Dimensions |
|
Marks and inscriptions |
|
Gallery label | FOLIES-BERGÉRE L'ARC EN CIEL
E.109-1921
'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900'
This poster advertises a performance of the ballet-pantomime L'Arc en Ceil at the Folies-Bergére, Paris, in 1893. Its designer, Jules Chéret was a pioneer in exploring colour lithography as applied to poster design, and thus in popularising the colour pictorial poster, bringing this new form of art to the streets of Paris. He founded his own lithographic printing press in 1866 (having served an apprenticeship to a lithographer), and achieved a prodigious output. His best-known work captures the joie-de-vivre of Parisian cabarets, music-halls, dance-halls, and theatres.
Given by Mrs. J. T. Clarke
Given by Mrs. J. T. Clarke(1987-2006) |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | Jules Chéret (1836-1932) is known as the Maître de l'Affiche, or the 'Father of the poster'. This is primarily due to his ground breaking developments in the colour lithographic process, but can also be attributed to his prolific output and ostentatious style: Chéret was capable of rendering even the most banal of subjects sensational. His posters were so popular with the Parisian public that it was rumoured devotees would go out in the middle of the night in order to remove his posters from the walls and add them to their collection. |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.109-1921 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | April 12, 2000 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSON