# Picture Posters/Chapter 4

Scans
* CHAPTER IV.
THE POSTER IN FRANCE: THE WORK OF WILLETTE, FORAIN, STEINLEN, ANQUETIN, BONNARD, IBELS, VALLOTON, DE FEURE, AND MÉTIVET.
It is not for a moment to be pretended that the artists with whom this chapter deals are in any sense members of a single school: they have, indeed, many more points of difference than of similarity. I deal with them together, because, speaking roughly, their designs are saturated with the spirit of the day: their decorations are realistic, rather than fantastic or picturesque. They lean towards Lautrec, rather than towards Chéret or Grasset, but they are in no sense his imitators; some of them, indeed, are actually his predecessors.
Willette is an artist of such astonishing facility and variety, that he has, comparatively speaking, devoted little time to the affiche, and save in one or two conspicuous instances, he has failed to achieve compelling advertisements. And yet his artistic personality is so curious and so powerful that his posters are nearly all interesting to the ​collector,—more interesting to the collector, it may well be, than satisfactory to the advertiser. Willette is master of several manners. He can be realistic to the point of brutality, symbolical, graceful; while now and then he is almost austerely classical. There are, happily, few posters so impregnated with race hatred as the anti-Semitic bill intended to forward the artist's candidature at the Elections législatives of the 22nd of September, 1889. The design is ugly in the last degree, but it is, nevertheless, strangely powerful. Very different and very much more pleasing is the lithograph in black—admirably composed and executed —which advertised the successful pantomime, entitled L’Enfant Prodigue. The design is at once graceful and dramatic, and it is not surprising that a proof before letters is one of the gems of a collection of the posters of Willette. No more interesting souvenir of an experiment which fascinated both Paris and London can be conceived. Again, the bill advertising the International Exhibition of Commerce and Industry, held some time ago at the Champs de Mars (an unlettered proof of which commands no less than two pounds), is very desirable. The little bill in colours bearing the legend,
"Ainsi qu'un papillon volage, A qui passe aujourd'hui, demain sera passé. Laisse-toi cuellir au passage Papillon d'Actualité,"
DESIGN BY WILLETTE.
DESIGN BY WILLETTE.
DESIGN BY WILLETTE.
DESIGN BY WILLETTE.
DESIGN BY WILLETTE.
​is pretty, alike in colour and pattern, and has already become rare.
Entirely appropriate to its purpose is the "Nouveau Cirque" advertisement, in which clowns, bare-back riders, and performing animals of all kinds—from a frog to an elephant—disport themselves with the utmost abandon. From this to the "Cacao Van Houten," is a far cry. From the point of view of the advertiser, Willette has done nothing better than his life-size study of a Dutch waitress in national costume. The thing is very decorative, and succeeds admirably in attracting attention: another and more complicated design for the same firm is only a shade less successful. This is entitled "La loi défendent le cacao contre le chocolat." The other posters of this artist include the rare "Petite National," the "Evénement Parisien" (which was, I believe, suppressed), the "Courrier Française," the "Exposition Charlet," and the "Elysée Montmartre." The posters of Willette are marked by variety and ingenuity of invention, and there is little doubt that they will be of permanent value as revelations of a talent as individual as it is powerful.
DESIGN BY FORAIN.
DESIGN BY FORAIN.
DESIGN BY STEINLEN, USED IN FRANCE FOR A POSTER FOR THE "LAIT PUR DE LA VINGEANNE STÉRILISÉ," AND IN ENGLAND FOR NESTLÉ'S SWISS MILK.
DESIGN BY STEINLEN.
​personality. As an advertisement, it must be confessed, it is not all that could be desired. The colour scheme, while very dainty, is not one which insists on its presence on the hoardings, so that the proximity of (for example) a Chéret renders it to some extent ineffective. At the same time, it is one of the most charming designs of the kind in existence, and no collector should fail to possess himself of a copy. It exists in three states: proofs before letters pulled in two tints only, ordinary proofs before letters, and prints after letters. In the former state it is rapidly increasing in value, but, insomuch as the lettering is of the essence of the design, the final state is the most desirable of all. To advertise an exhibition of his own work, Steinlen produced another study of cats, which is almost as agreeable as the "Lait pur." It is in two states: proofs before and after letters. The artist's design for the watering-place, Vernet-les-Bains, is not very important, but his early "Mothu et Doria," in three states, should not be overlooked. Earlier in date than any of the designs I have discussed is the "Trouville" and "Le Rève." The latter is a pretty composition reproduced in chromotypo-gravure. While the posters of Steinlen are not so striking on the hoarding as those of some of his contemporaries, they are of the highest artistic interest, and will no doubt take a place second to none in the affections ​of many collectors. It is significant that already the rarest of them are by no means easy to procure.
DESIGN BY IBELS.
DESIGN BY IBELS.
​that with some the "Mévisto à l’Horloge" will be deemed his best design, but it can in no sense be considered his most original. It represents the actor as Pierrot, and is graceful and pleasing rather than characteristic; indeed, one would almost think that in designing it the artist had been at pains to conceal his personality. Nor is the "Salon des Cent"—a charming and delicate little lithograph—in spite of the ingenuity and fantasy of its grouping of Pierrot, Harlequin and Columbine, the most noteworthy of Ibels' posters. We see him at his most original, in an advertisement for the illustrated paper entitled "l'Escarmouche," to which he, together with Lautrec, Vuillard, Willette, and Anquetin, contributed drawings. It represents a café of the lower class, such as abounds in the workmen's quarter of Paris. The enormously fat patron enthroned behind the metal-topped bar, the waitress, cloth in hand, clad in her slovenly dress, the ouvriers in typical blue blouses, are studies in which accurate portraiture has been but slightly sacrificed to grotesqueness. The whole scene is admirably conceived, and the colour scheme, though very restrained, is certainly telling. Those who can do so should secure a proof before letters of this work, for the lettering is, I believe, not by the artist himself, and mars the effect of the design, although not in a very marked degree. Another interesting ​bill is that done for Mévisto's performances at the Scala music-hall; this is of great size and striking originality. But if grotesque force, and the power of reducing scenes of modern lower-class life into decoration, are Ibels' most pronounced characteristics, he can produce posters of the suavest charm. Amongst all the affiches I know, none seems to me more delightful than this artist's "Irène Henry." The café chantant singer whom it represents is justly a popular favourite with the Parisian public from the fact that she infuses into her performances no small amount of personality; moreover, her art is marked by grace and finish. Those who would see her as she appears to audiences at the Horloge, without going there, have only to look at Ibels' poster. With the rarest felicity, he has caught her physical individuality. She is represented in the act of singing in the open air to a crowd in the café, lighted by the familiar circle of white lamps. The line of the figure is most expressive: violet is the predominating colour. This poster is worthy a place in the French music hall series, which includes those designed by Lautrec for Jane Avril, by Steinlen for Yvette Guilbert, and by an artist whom I am about to consider, Anquetin, for Marguerite Dufay.
DESIGN BY IBELS.
DESIGN BY IBELS.
​of them is worthy of the closest attention. The design for Marguerite Dufay is a piece of triumphant vulgarity. The subject is a very simple one; it is merely a woman of almost impossible fatness who performs at various Parisian music-halls on the trombone. Having stated this, one has, however, given no idea of the extraordinary qualities of this bill. It is safe to say that, once seen, it will never be forgotten; it should have made the fortune of the performer whom it advertises. The mirth of the thing is victorious and infectious; one seems almost to hear the coarse laugh; the ample body in the green dress seems to move as one stares at it. In line, in movement, this poster is, from a certain point of view, a veritable masterpiece. An advertisement which is, it seems to me, altogether more worthy of Anquetin's great talent is one designed for "Le Rire," a recently issued journal. It is an extremely fine lithograph in a single printing, and, as at present it can be procured for a few shillings, it should be in the possession, not only of those who care for posters as such, but also of all who are amateurs of the beautiful art of lithography. In the foreground is the figure of a huge man in mediaeval costume, which, while touched with the grotesque, is splendidly flamboyant. At his side he carries a large portfolio, adorned with a grinning mask, while his hands, which are admirably drawn, point ​towards a crowd of grinning pigmies beneath him. Every one of the crowd is extremely expressive, and the effect of the whole production is enhanced by very excellent lettering. It would be difficult to meet with two affiches more interesting than the "Marguerite Dufay" and "Le Rire," and they place Anquetin amongst the masters of the art of the poster.
DESIGN BY ANQUETIN.
DESIGN BY BONNARD.
DESIGN BY BONNARD.
DESIGN BY VALLOTON.
​closed fan, and in the other an overflowing glass of champagne, which tumbles about her in a great cascade of foam. The background is yellow and the girl's dress red, while the upper part of the design is occupied by the arms of Paris and the text in large letters. The draughtsmanship is curious and vivacious, and the colouring conspicuously successful. This poster is not large, measuring as it does, only thirty-two by twenty-nine inches. The "Revue Blanche," though of nearly the same size, is much more complicated. In the foreground is a woman in huge hat and cape, which partly conceal her face, at whom an extraordinarily grotesque street urchin points his finger. The background is composed of innumerable advertisements of the revue, which a man in a great coat and silk hat, with his back to the spectator, is reading attentively. All the figures are in a sort of slate colour. The legend is admirably introduced into the foreground by means of huge white letters. Owing to the curiosity of its decoration, this specimen of Bonnard's work is a most desirable possession for the collector.
It has been the good fortune of Valloton to produce at least one poster which is excellent from every point of view. Nothing more appropriate to the advertisement of a frivolous burlesque than his "Ah! la Pé. la Pé, la pépinièré" could well be imagined. It represents a characteristic audience at a ​theatre convulsed with laughter at what is taking place on the stage. The variety of expression on the faces of the spectators is infinite, and the effect of the whole thing is as mirthful as may be. From the advertiser's point of view, I can conceive nothing more completely satisfactory. It exists in colours and in black, and the latter is the rarer. The same artist's "Carte de Paris" would seem already to have become scarce. It is a large lithograph in one colour; an example was shown at the Poster Exhibition at the Royal Aquarium. There is also a large address card designed by Valloton for M. Sagot. While this is not actually a poster it almost amounts to one, and were it to be executed on a large scale, it would doubtless be most successful. It is to be hoped that Valloton, encouraged by his universally recognized success in the art of the poster, will not altogether give up its practice in favour of those other branches of art in which he is distinguished.
DESIGN BY DE FEURE.
DESIGN BY DE FEURE.
DESIGN BY DE FEURE.
DESIGN BY DE MÉTIVET.
​prices. Amongst the other posters of De Feure is that done for the performance of the singer, Edmée Lescaut, at the Casino de Paris; for the newspaper "Le Diablotin"; and for the "Paris Almanach". In addition, we must not overlook the pleasant little design for the contents bill of a special issue of "To-Day."
The posters of Lucien Métivet are of very unequal merit. On the one hand the designs done by him for Eugénie Buffet, in her realistic répertoire of songs, are extremely distinguished. While, on the other, I could point to examples by this artist which are utterly unworthy his talent. Amongst Métivet's earlier works are "La Famille, journal hebdomadaire illustré," and "L'Hygiène." A more recent bill advertises "Les Joyeuses commères de Paris," but Métivet’s talent is seen at its best in the Eugénie Buffet advertisements, two studies worthy a place amongst the best posters which have come from the hands of contemporary French artists.