Skip to main content

Jules Chéret Mixed Media

French, 1836-1932

Once upon a belle époque, Jules Chéret and his posters were the toast of Paris. It was the Art Nouveau era, a time when works like those created by Chéret were key to the fabric of the cosmopolitan thoroughfare in the French capital. Today, this extraordinary artist and printer is little known. 

It was Chéret who transformed the street advert into the most expressive and coveted art form of the late 1800s. Think: a red-headed belle in a flimsy yellow dress, frolicking through a field of blue as she pours a glass of “tonic wine,” with the brand name Vin Mariani wafting about her.

Through his bold advances in chromolithography and the graphic arts, Chéret and the younger talents he inspired — like Pierre Bonnard, Alphonse Mucha and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec — along with other artists, turned the stone-gray streets of Paris into a kaleidoscopic, ever-changing urban spectacle.

Raised in a family of poor Parisian artisans, Jules Chéret was apprenticed to a lithographer at 13. Although he took a class at the École nationale de dessin, as an artist, he was largely self-taught, schooling himself in art history and technique by visiting remarkable works at museums. When his first solo poster designs failed to garner further commissions, Chéret, then 23, relocated to London, where colorful but text-heavy posters enlivened the streets.

The move proved pivotal, as he soon found work with the French expat Eugène Rimmel, a visionary businessman and one of the founders of the beauty and healthcare industries. A brilliant marketer, he regularly produced colorful, elegantly illustrated and culturally sophisticated catalogues to publicize House of Rimmel cosmetics and fragrances. These and other promotional ventures kept Chéret busy, while sharpening his understanding of the commercial potential of print. 

So, when he learned of the invention of a press that could print large-scale formats inexpensively, Chéret recognized an opportunity to become his own boss. Now 30 years old, he returned to Paris with the financial support of Rimmel to establish his own print shop specializing in jumbo-size street posters and set about forging a fresh, eye-catching approach to their design.

Chéret accelerated the process of chromolithography by adding a stone with a graduated background that scaled in hue from orange to blue. With this, in addition to red- and black-pigmented stones, he could make vibrant posters more quickly and cheaply. In the late 1870s, his acquisition of steam-powered presses further sped up production and dramatically increased the volume of his output. 

But perhaps Chéret’s greatest contribution to our world today was a simple insight into an eternal truth: Sex sells. The best way to market a product is to put a pretty, revealingly dressed young woman in the ad. In the 1890s, Chéret put so many to work in this cause that they came to be known as “Chérettes,” a conflation of chérie (“darling”) and Chéret. 

Descended from the enchanting mademoiselles in the bucolic painterly confections of Rococo artists like Antoine Watteau and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, all smiles and femininity, they fused the present with the past, making them potent symbols of a newly affluent and peaceful France. 

Find original Jules Chéret posters and prints and other Art Nouveau posters on 1stDibs.

to
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
1
1
1
1
64
296
264
150
147
1
Artist: Jules Chéret
Original Pastel Painting of Four Females by Jules Cheret 1910
By Jules Chéret
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Jules Cheret (1836-1932) is an important figure in poster history. He pioneered the art of color lithography, and for this is commonly referred to as the, “Father of Poster Design”. ...
Category

1910s Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel

Related Items
Blue Waves, Science Art Collection by Anastasia Vasilyeva
By Anastasia Vasilyeva
Located in Zofingen, AG
Wave Theory is a painting from the collection "Wave Theory", was participated in the Swiss Art Expo 2021 in Zurich. It is a part of the science art collection by artist Anastasia Vasilyeva...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic

MORNING BREAKFAST Mixed Media Collage, Abstract Black Family Collage with Paint
Located in Union City, NJ
MORNING BREAKFAST is an original mixed media collage on board by Brooklyn artist Karl A. McIntosh. MORNING BREAKFAST is a somewhat amusing, colorful abstract portrait portraying a black family seated together having breakfast. McIntosh shows his inventive use of collage using cut bits of colored paper in shades of red, brown, blue, pink, black. Visible are magazine print clippings for facial details, dishes, lettering layered with wildly expressive yellow, blue, green and white painted accents that create an energetic and rambunctious breakfast table scene. The viewer can't help but continue gazing at the frenzied movement and visual chatter going on in MORNING BREAKFAST, a captivating and irresistible painted collage by Karl A. McIntosh. Framed size - 27.25 in. x 33.5 in. Image size - 221.25 in. x 27.5 in. Excellent condition, archival framing, beveled cherry wood colored frame with green and gold liner, hand signed by the artist "K.A.McIntosh" on upper left edge. About the artist: Karl A. McIntosh is a self taught artist who works is pastel, watercolor, acrylic, stone, wood and metal and is a known for his imaginative transformation of found objects into works of art. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, McIntosh moved to the United States at an early age and later took up art. Among his mentors are artist Otto Neals with whom he worked at the Bob Blackburn Printmaking Working Workshop and artist Marian Griffin. McIntosh is also a poet, drummer and dancer who draws his creative inspiration and expression from his study of African art and culture. McIntosh’s bold, bright colors dance off the page and tantalize the senses. His work is profound in its statement and deliciously whimsical. His work is an honest portrayal of everyday life and the people who live it but on occasion, takes on public figures and world events most often employing satire as thick as the layers of paint or paper he uses to depict them. McIntosh’s work has been exhibited at numerous venues across the country including Dorsey’s Art Gallery, The Skylight Gallery, MOCADA (The Museum of Contemporary Diasporan Art), 843 Studio Gallery, The National Black Fine Art...
Category

1990s Outsider Art Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Paint, Paper, Glue, Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Board, Pencil

1988 "Night Glow I" Abstract Drawing
By Elaine Kaufman Feiner
Located in Arp, TX
Elaine Kaufman Feiner (1922-2018) "Night Glow I" 1988 Watercolor and pastel on paper 30"x30" unframed Signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled reverse
Category

1980s Abstract Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Watercolor

1960s "Yellow and Black Abstract" Gouache and Oil Pastel Female Artist
By Gloria Dudfield
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield Yellow and Black Abstract Gouache and Oil Pastel on paper 35 x 36 in c. 1960 Framed Size: 38.5 x 39.5 x 1.5 Good Condition - Wear consistent with age and history. Cr...
Category

1960s Abstract Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel, Gouache, Archival Paper

Latent Defect
By Peter Gethin Thomas
Located in Surfside, FL
22X30 without frame, 29X36 with frame Peter (Gethin) Thomas is active/lives in District Of Columbia. Peter Thomas is known for abstract expressionist painting. He was Dean of the Corcoran School of Art in the 1970s and then became the head of the Graphics Department at the Federal Reserve, both in Washington, D.C. On that faculty were some outstanding artists and fine teachers. William Christenberry, Sam Gilliam, Ed McGowin, Robert Stackhouse, Brockie Stevenson, Peter G...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Watercolor

Abstract Acrylic Painting on Canvas Sheet, Mounted to Board, After Blue Eyes
By a.muse
Located in New york, NY
Inspired by Modigliani, After Blue Eyes, 2021 by a.muse is a 24" x 18" x 3/16” acrylic and oil stick painting on canvas mounted on archival board. T...
Category

2010s Abstract Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media

"Petite Bodacious" Small Study in Black, Mint, White and Raw Sienna 2022, 21.5"
By Karina Gentinetta
Located in New York, NY
"Bodacious" 2022, 21.5" x 21.5" square. A small but mighty abstract painting consisting of acrylic, pencils, and oil pastels on flat board canvas by Argentine-born artist Karina Gentinetta (featured in Elle Decor, the New York Times, Traditional Home, Veranda Magazine, Luxe Interiors, and most recently in Introspective Magazine...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Color Pencil

Portrait of A Young Woman Work On Paper
By Alexander Rutsch
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Young Model II Expressionist Portrait Rutsch is always "scribbling and scrabbling." He is an artist of the purest breed—an artist who has no choice but to paint. He is a chosen traveler of the depths of existence; a man who follows a longing to explore his inner self and relate his findings with the energy and identity of the universe. The celebrated Austrian artist approaches painting and sculpture as he lives life—with the eyes of a child and the hand of a poet. Constantly in the quest for rhythms of form and vibrations of color, he catches those "sparks in the shadow" and evidences their fullest reality and beauty in his creations. Each of his paintings is a careful construction as it is a spontaneous act of love. While he might attribute certain artistic expressions to "coincidence," his inspiration comes from such diverse sources as: memories, dreams, sounds, numbers, telephone poles and drift wood. Rutsch has an affinity to vibrant colors, strong contours and rich brush strokes which are apparent in his oils, mixed media works and ink drawings. He has a sensitivity to the unusual, the discarded and a fondness for the ugly as well as the chaotic. These, he often transforms into poignant welded steel abstractions. Rutsch has an aversion to politics, citing dates and expounding upon honors achieved. There is no talk about 'profound symbolism' in his work and as Carlo McCormick writes in the introduction to Rutsch's monograph, "Meaning is not a seed that Rutsch plants, nurtures and then harvests. It is what grows wild in a volcanic swamp of fossilized, decaying and new-born fancies—as an afterthought and aftershock." Alexander Rutsch is not concerned with interpretations; he is, however, passionate about the process of making art and surrenders his entire being as an instrument to the act of creation. The geometry of his imagination overflows with figures, profiles and penetrating strong eyes—windows to a deeper place. Their vitality and sensuality pulsate through the "dreamscapes" of Rutsch's created worlds. At times romantic, yet always wild with energy, human forms and experiences are essential to the artist's vocabulary. The son of opera singers and a singer himself, Rutsch speaks of "the art of painting as the art of silence" and the job of the painter "to dedicate himself to the silence." He adds though, "that this silence is the greatest existing sound in the universe." One wonders why then, if painting is "the art of silence," that Rutsch's paintings scream with sound. Sometimes melancholy, sometimes sensual, sometimes dissonant and sometimes whispering, the rhythms are always rich in the celebration of life and our shared humanity. Painter, sculptor and poet, Rutsch's oeuvre over the past four decades is tremendous. Celebrated and collected especially in Vienna, Paris, Brussels and New York, he studied with renowned teachers like Boeckl and Dorowsky and collaborated with such geniuses as Salvador Dali. Having left Vienna in the fifties, Rutsch moved to Paris and took the city's art scene by storm. There, Picasso was so enthralled with a portrait Rutsch has done of him that, in a state of great excitement, he countersigned it. Biography Alexander Rutsch was born in Russia in 1916 but raised in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. After studying voice in Austria he became an opera singer like his parents, but after WWII, Rutsch's love for visual expression propelled him to change careers. He was a painter, sculptor, philosopher, musician, singer and poet. His life as a romantic is reflected in his work, as he sought to perfect his soul and humanity, "I paint my dreams," said Rutsch. "My dreams are color and life. They soar in my head like millions of symphonies. I can never stop building dreams." In 1952, after studying under Josef Dobrowsky, Josef Hoffmann and Herbert Boeckl at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Alexander Rutsch received a scholarship to study in France. There he made contacts and began collaborations with his contemporaries, Picasso and Dali. Rutsch said of his experiences with Picasso, "Picasso played a short but important moment in my life in Paris that affected my entire artistic future. I learned from him that it is not important if art is not aesthetically finished. It can be raw, uncooked, rough. If an artist feels he has said it—it is not important to polish or finish it. Because of Picasso, I learned that if I don't feel the need to finish—I don't have to." In 1954 he exhibited his work at the Salon Artistique International de Saceux and won first prize for abstract painting, the first of may awards received during his prolific career. During the 13 years he lived in Paris, Rutsch exhibited in many prominent galleries there and throughout Europe. In 1958, The City of Paris awarded him the prestigious Arts, Science and Letters Silver Medal. In 1966, Jean Desvilles presented his prize winning film "Le Monde de Rutsch" at the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Biennial. In 1968 Rutsch moved to Pelham, New York where he continued to work in his studio and exhibit in galleries and museums worldwide. Rutsch's work, as seen through his mastery of many art forms—sculpture, painting, print-making, and drawing, and a wide variety of other media has been described as "vibrating showers of lines, bold geometries, wounded anatomically rambling scrap-wood skeletons...
Category

1980s Expressionist Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Charcoal, Oil Pastel, Watercolor

"Build. Repair. Adjust.", Abstract, Graffiti, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Mixed Media
By Monica DeSalvo
Located in Franklin, MA
Monica DeSalvo’s “Build. Repair. Adjust.” is a 30 x 22 inch abstract graffiti-like acrylic “print” painting on paper. Bold curved shapes inspired by a Bauhaus teapot...
Category

2010s Contemporary Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper

February Figure, female nude, greys earth tones
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Oil and oil stick over ink on paper. Neutral limited color, expressionist female nude with active brush strokes.
Category

2010s Expressionist Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Ink, Oil

Power Play, Acrylic Canvas Sewn With Thread, Mauve, Blue, Yellow
By a.muse
Located in New york, NY
A metaphor for emotions, experiences and memories, Power Play, 2022 by a.muse is a contemporary abstract acrylic mixed-media painting․ The acrylic canvas s...
Category

2010s Abstract Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Canvas, Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Thread

"Il ratto di Proserpina" by Anna Pennati - from William Blake s poems
Located in Milano, MI
Inspired by William Blake's poem – "The grey Monk" Exhibited in Milan (Italy) in 2005. Part of a series o 10 Exclusively on 1stdibs measures are referred to the painting. Passeparto...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Jules Chéret Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Ink, Acrylic

Jules Chéret mixed media for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Jules Chéret mixed media available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Jules Chéret in crayon, oil pastel and more. Not every interior allows for large Jules Chéret mixed media, so small editions measuring 20 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Joanie Lemercier, Punk Me Tender, and Mr. Brainwash. Jules Chéret mixed media prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $14,000 and tops out at $14,000, while the average work can sell for $14,000.
Questions About Jules Chéret Mixed Media
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Jules Cheret contributed to poster history by changing how the art world viewed posters. In 1884, he showed his works in the first-ever gallery exhibition of posters, helping to elevate the art form. Find a variety of Jules Cheret art on 1stDibs.

Still Thinking About These?

All Recently Viewed