Blog #5 - Jules Chéret

For the reading of these two chapters, there were a plethora of amazing artists describe. Somehow though, Jules Cheret was the one that caught my attention.

Jules Chéret was perhaps one of the most prominent forerunners of bringing and expanding the philosophy of Art Nouveau within French society. Born in May 1836, Chéret was often famed as the first official poster work designer, in a time where advertisements were mostly adorned with mainly just typography. His modern, lithographic posters were eye-catching and a visual breakthough, which proved popular amidst the public and potent advertisers. At first his revolutionary poster designs were not welcomed by a stringent cliche of artists who considered that only fine art, such as painting and sculptures, were what consisted of "fine art" while anything else, like cartoons or graphic poster works, were nothing more than amateur doodles. Nevertheless, many people also supported Jules and his work and paved the way for his success and legacy, along with the result of an inspired league of his followers of creating modern poster designs.

 Jules Chéret was born in Paris, France, to a moderate family, that wasn't wealthy enough though to send him to the most lavish of schools. Chéret actually ended up leaving Paris (but later returned) because he couldn't find enough opportunities for a career for his type of art style. Instead, he moved to London with expectations that the scene there was more liberal, experimental, and accepting. Cheret endured numerous hardships and not enough income, but was determined to succeed. He started off with small jobs, such as creating bookcovers for publishing firms, along with creating advertisement posters for entertainment industries such as the theater, circus, cabarets, music halls, singers, celebrities, etc. Eventually his work was more recognized as it colorfully lit the walls of buildings and bulletin boards. His style was applauded for revolutionalizing the use of color, along with his jubilant imagery that stirred people's senses. His designs were often eye-popping, and colored in a sort of color-book style, with soft pastel colors matched with vibrant positioning of text for the headlines.

 His most notable features in his posters may very well be the beautiful, joyful "Cherettes" (as they were popular called), women who seemed alive as they twisted, danced, and skipped on paper. They almost look alive and touchable, like they'll pop out at any moment and invite you to join them at the cinema or theater or whatever arena or event that they were advertising. His poster works and the women that he illustrated emulated an aura of happiness and joy which attracted the public. The women especially became a symbol for feminism, since the women seemed so liberated and freed from their social, gender restrictions as the typical calm and reserved woman.

 Below is a video clip showcasing a montage of his greatest works:

 

Besides creating a revolution of the Art Noveau movement, he also revolutionized and created a strong following for poster work, along with other types of art styles that was considered unconventional or not apart of the standard that is "fine art". Many art critics actually celebrated Cheret's posters, claiming that the posters littered outside the streets was far superior compared to the fine art "stuff" that was being hung in the museums. I believe that Cheret also (perhaps indirectly or unintentionally) fueled the revolution for feminism through his depiction of lavish, merry, gleeful women. 

Nowadays, in this modern time, the movie posters that we have don't have that certain "charm" that Cheret's posters displayed. Instead of having hand-drawn illustrations, most posters feature a photograph done in photoshop. I understand that times and technology have evolved, but I wish that the movie posters that we had today could still capture that certain aura. 

 

I feel like Cheret is a timeless inspiration to all graphic designers and aspiring ones (like myself). His invention of the modern poster has ignited a passion for making advertisements that are true pieces of artwork.

Works Cited:

http://www.cheret.info/index.html

http://www.jules-cheret.org/