£350.00
Until the mid-19th Century, printed advertising posters tended to be predominantly text-only. During the second half of the 19th Century however, artists began to see new possibilities in the poster medium, linking imagery to modern commerce. By the 1890s, the streets of every great city were emblazoned with large and colourful posters. These not only caught the attention of the public, but the best examples were regarded as true works of art (specifically, as fine prints) to be exhibited, reviewed in journals, collected and reproduced. The spirit of the Belle Époque had given birth to a new artistic movement and in Paris, Jules Chéret, (1836-1932) paved the way for the poster industry, opening his own printing business, Imprimerie Chaix in 1866.
Chéret published smaller chromolithographic versions (in authentic colours) of 256 of the most highly regarded posters of the day, created by 97 artists including Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre Bonnard. Every month from December 1895 to November 1900, subscribers received a wrapped parcel containing four consecutively numbered poster reproductions, often with a bonus plate of a specially created lithograph, creating one of the most influential art publications in history; the suite entitled Les Maîtres de L’Affiche – “The Masters of the Poster”.
“L’Enfant Prodigue” (Plate 14) was created by Adolphe Léon Willette (1857-1926), a French painter, illustrator, caricaturist and lithographer. He was also an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris. “L’Enfant Prodigue”, the return of the Prodigal Child, was a pantomime published by E Biardot of Place de la Madeleine, Paris.
Original stone lithograph, 1896. Very faint blind stamp “Les Maîtres de l’Affiche, Imprimerie Chaix” on the bottom right corner. Framed and mounted.
Framed dimensions:
Height: 43 cm (17 inches)
Width: 35.5 cm (14 inches)