Jules Cheret: January At The BNF

Readers of The Blue Lantern have enjoyed the illustrations of the months by Franz Melchers during  this past year.   So, this year I am trying something the same, only different.   Each month will begin with an image from Gallica, the digital online collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BNF).  The collection comprises 400,000+ images, a panorama of arts from high to low and including many that defy easy categorization. I do hope you will let me know what you think.

 "(A) hooray of reds, a hallelujah of yellows, and a primal scream of blues." - Ernest de Crauzat

Dashing through the snow may not be the best way to cure a cough; nonetheless the young woman in red is advertising Geraudel cough drops.  The romance with ukiyo-e  prints, known as japonisme in French, is evident in the umbrella in the snow and the visibility of individuals snow snowflakes.  The blue ovoid break in the snow, visually satisfying and unrealistic, is there because Jules Cheret was a terrific artist. This street art was made possible by developments in color lithography and changes in laws governing the posting of handbills in the late 19th century.

Jules Cheret (1836-1932) was apparently the first to use attractive women in advertisements, an idea that seems unremarkable now and inevitable in hindsight, when you consider that  Cheret's first big publicity campaign was with the Folies Bergere.  Cheret created images so unlike any that the French public was used to, that his contemporaries  gave them the affectionate nickname: of the Cherettes. A Cherette was an attractive young woman, modern to the extent that she showed more personality and daring than was customary for the well-bred jeune fille.  What sets the Cherettes apart is their creator's  affection for the Rococo and for the works of Watteau and Fragonard.

Difficult as it is to believe now,  Cheret began his career as a reticent user of color.  But by 1890, success  - and perhaps his exposure to the performers at the Folies Bergere  - had emboldened him.  His work, as de Crauzat described it, was a series of  glorious variations on the primary colors; his signature use of blue-lining rather than outlining in black.   Eraly on he  introduced a  new technique in lithography - fond gradue - or graduated colors, that made shading of color possible throuigh applying two colors to one printing stone.  Through experimentation, Cheret learned to put the cool color on top and the warm color on the bottom.

Convinced that posters should be accepted as art, Cheret created Maitres de l'Affiche (Masters of the Poster) in 1895, a monthly series of reproductions in a portfolio.  Some ninety-seven artists were eventually included and their works have vindicated Cheret's belief, as you will find them in poster histories and museum collections today.

 Images: 
1.Jules Cheret - Pastilles Geraudel, 1897, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris.
2. Jules Cheret -Loie Fuller, 1897 - Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris.