It's the late 19 Century and poster art was in early stages of development through the art Nouveau or "new art" movement in Paris. With the help of Jules Cheret and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec the poster became the most popular form of mass advertising. Cheret began drawing his pictures directly on to the lithographic stone right after the mechanical presses were invented. It was the first time in history that these images could be produced so abundantly and cheaply that their posters populated streets corners of Paris on every available surface.
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| Lautrec dresses up as an alter boy for friends wedding. |
For Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec the timing of this lithographic mecca couldn’t have been more perfect. Often known for dressing up in outrageous outfits, Henry’s reasons for preferring to use the medium was obvious. What better to attract the attention of the public’s eye? The poster was that perfect–in your face medium–that accomplished these goals.
History books have often overlooked Jules Cheret's contribution to the development of the early lithographic poster. Oddly enough, he had been given the first commission for the Moulin Rouge when it opened in 1889, but his pretty approach with circus riders on donkeys was not a successful brand for the nightclub–somewhat invested in the acceptable debauchery at the time. While Henry has gone on record as an admirer of Cheret’s efforts, only a few months later it was Cheret who would proclaim, “Lautrec is a master!”
Graphic design art historian Phillip Meggs raised an important question on how we might have overlooked Lautec’s contemporaries and their contributions in his article Toulouse Latrec: Superb but Not Alone. He asks the question- ”Was Henri Toulouse-Lautrec the guru of the modern poster as some art history books would have us believe? Or was he the quick sketch artist storming into the print shop with a hangover and using his brilliant gifts as a draftsman to bang out posters?” - AIGA Journal of Graphic Design Vol.4, No. 2, 1986.
So who really is the master of the first advertising poster? More to come. We're not done yet!
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ReplyDeleteWhile it may be nice to believe that there is no truth behind the statement "personality is everything", there is, unfortunately, an extensive amount of instances in which this is true. Regardless of talent level, academic prestige, or job ranking, ones personality does play a large factor in how the mass public either accepts or rejects them. An instance of how personality largely determines societal recognition and fame is in the fame of Lautrec who comparatively was more well known than Charet, another artist from this artistic time period and movement.
It is easy to take a novice ideology and say that Charet's work is "better" than Lautrec’s. While "better would not be the right word choice, it is evident that the level of time in which Charet spent on his work is seemingly remarkably higher than Lautrec’s. This gives Charet's work a more polished and well thought out feeling and look. Why then, if Charet's work is more aesthetically pleasing, is he virtually unknown in comparison to Lautrec? This all stems from personality and public identity.
Little is known of Charet as a person and an artist. This is exactly the cause of his ambiguous and unknown career as an artist. This is why people don't know his name. Lautrec was highly involved with the mass of the people. He was eccentric, had an outgoing personality, and often did things that were out of the ordinary and therefore highly memorable. He became well known, not just simply because of his artwork, but for a persona, a type of caricature, in a sense, that he created for himself. People knee the artist and not just the art, which is a large reason why Lautrec is more well known and was more successful in his time.
In the instance of rating one artist better than the other, it is of course, ultimately decided by personal opinion. In this particular situation, it is easy for people to adopt the "root for the underdog " mentality. The underdog of.course being Charet. But apart from rooting for the underdog, Charet’s work, specifically his work for the Moulin Rouge, does more accurately portray a lighthearted fun essence that was the Moulin Rouge. in this piece in particular, viewers get to to feel the ethos of the subject he is visually portraying. In this sense, Charet becomes the real master of the poster, if only he had the personality to go along with it, he would have been more well known, held in higher prestige, and recognized for his great accomplishments.