Jules Cheret Analysis

Jules Chéret Born May 31,1836 in Paris to a poor but creative family of artisans was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of Belle Époqueposter art, French for Beautiful Era.

At age 13 he began a three year apprenticeship with a lithographer where his interest then led him to take an art course at the Ecole and Nationale de Dessin, This Poster was the first Poster made for the Moulin Rouge, called "La Goulue" (1891), His work is part of the art nouveau movent as it has similarities to other pieces of work from that time period, however Jules Cheret seemed to make it more of his own and add his own touch, I chose to analyse this particular piece of his work as it was his first poster made, which gained him a lot of recognition for his other posters, From 1859 to 1866 he was trained in Lithography in London where he was highly influenced by the British approach to poster design and printing, his other main influences was Rococo which developed in the early 18th century in Paris, as a reaction against the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations of the Baroque, especially of the Palace of Versailles such as Jean- Honore Frangonard and Antoine Watteau.
(work by Jean-Honore Frangonard)

He created posters in many categories such as Operas, Ballets, Pantomimes, Balls and Dance Halls, Newspapers and Magazines and Novels

Cheret became known for the beauties of the Moulin Rouge dancers which featured in his posters which all filled the streets of Paris, the flirty and vibrant dancers was seen all over on Kiosks and other locations throughout the city. 

As his work became more familiar to people and his posters showing  free-spirited females were able to attract a broader audience, pundits began calling him the "father of the women's liberation." Females had previously been portrayed ass prostitutes in art, However the women shown in his posters where usually referred to as 'Cherrettes' which where the complete opposite to prostitutes, It was a relief for the women living in Paris at the time, and introduced a evidently more open atmosphere where women were able to take part activities that would have been seen as 'Taboo' before, for example, wearing low cut clothing and smoking in public.
                                                                                           (Georges de Feure)           
In 1895 he came up with the
 Maîtres de l'Affiche which was a collection of original works from ninety seven artist who were born or raised in Paris, but in a smaller 11 x 15 inch format, his success inspired many and started of a new generation of poster designers and painters such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who was was a French painter, print-maker, draughtsman and illustrator, one of his students was Georges de Feure who was a theatrical poster designer, and by looking at his work  you can clearly see his was inspired by Jules Cheret, as the women drawn in both the posters both have an art nouveau look about them.

 Personally I like the simplicity seen in some of Jules Cherets work, for example in many of his posters he uses mainly primary colours such as reds and blues and yellow, I feel this is effective because it makes the main subject stand out, which is the woman and would have given people an idea about what the poster is for even if they were just walking past, also I noticed in this particular poster Cheret only coloured the section behind the woman, leaving the rest of the page almost neutral, therefore making the typography stand out even more, I also like the delicacy of the painting of them women dancing as it can been as trying to show how free and fun these women in the posters are.