Picture Posters/Chapter 4

by Charles Hiatt

 

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.

If the artistic poster is an unimportant incident in the career of Willette, it is still more so in that of Forain, whose essays in this direction have been few and far between. Forain is known to nearly every artist in Europe as a great master of black and white. Few, if any, can approach him in technical dexterity, few can express so much in so few lines. Moreover, to his technical mastery is added a searching power of criticism which gives to his work a further, and a most important, interest. In his desire to depict the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he (no doubt unconsciously) becomes a moralist. He depicts life from no sentimental point of view; he can be realistic without seeming to appreciate the tragedy which is of the very essence of realism, so that on seeing one of his illustrations of modern life, one receives, apart from technical delight, a distinctly literary impression. Of his posters, perhaps the earliest is one unsigned and without lettering, representing an illuminated garden, in which a woman is depicted in the midst of an explosion of fireworks. Subsequent to this comes a bill to advertise one of the novels of Dubut de Laforest, which bears the artist's signature. The design which announces Forain's political drawings for the "Figaro" is of slight importance, as it was not originally intended for a poster. In spite of this it is by no means easy to meet with. Of greater interest is the "Exposition des Arts de la Femme." It was, however, only when Forain received a commission to produce an illustrated advertisement for a cycle show that he achieved a really memorable poster, a poster of real charm and rare

 

DESIGN BY FORAIN.

 

DESIGN BY FORAIN.

originality. The sport of bicycling seems to have fascinated the Parisienne completely, and Forain has made a charming design, in which she is depicted in complete enjoyment of the fashionable pastime. The colour scheme is restrained and delicate, and the production, which exists in two sizes, should certainly be found amongst the treasures of every amateur of the affiche. The somewhat risky pages of the Gil Bias Illustré have for a considerable time been noticeable to artists, chiefly on account of a series of coloured illustrations by Steinlen. His relentless veracity in depicting the life of the lower classes of the Paris of to-day is almost without rival. No detail of squalor seems to escape him; without a tinge of remorse he proceeds to inform us of the meanest incidents in the tragedy of the poor or vicious quarters of the great city. By reason of a certain emphasis of colour and crudeness of design the art of Steinlen is admirably adapted to the production of such human documents. But it cannot be maintained that, whatever their technical merits, these studies of human misery are other than unpleasant—even painful. It is, therefore, altogether agreeable, when one turns to his essays in the art of the poster, to find his work graceful rather than tragic, urbane rather than mordant. Forsaking his mission of realistic illustration, he becomes gay, dainty, and fanciful as the best of his fellows. Even in a higher degree than the majority of them, he makes his design appropriate to the thing advertised. His decorations are spiced with a certain actuality, and, in being so, insist more effectively on the particular article the merits of which it is their business to proclaim. No better example of this could, I think, be put forward than the "Lait pur de la Vingeanne stérilisé," a design which, in view of the material to be advertised, is conceived in the happiest vein. The pretty little girl drinking the milk, so much coveted of the cats which surround her, is less interesting than the animals themselves. The draughtsmanship of the latter is excellent, while there is a hint of that humanity of expression about the creatures which has produced for the work of Landseer so immense a popularity. Not less admirable, and of still greater interest, is the poster designed to advertise the performances of Yvette Guilbert at the Ambassadeurs. Amongst the numerous artists to whom the Sarah Bernhardt of the music halls has given commissions none has been more successful than Steinlen. The poster represents the singer behind the footlights in an attitude pre-eminently characteristic. The thing does not amount to a caricature, as does the hitherto unpublished delineation of Toulouse-Lautrec, but is merely a slightly exaggerated portrait. It is remarkably suggestive of a most alluring and delightful

 

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.

The art of Ibels is as little comprised in the poster as that of Steinlen. It is happily characteristic of young artists of the present day, both here and in France, that painting is not the only god of their æsthetic adoration: they experiment in many mediums, and it is really remarkable in how great a number of such experiments they succeed. What is generally true, is especially so of H. G. Ibels. Like Grasset, he has held an exhibition of his pictures at the Salon des Cent; he has made his mark in the galleries of the Champs de Mars; he has designed the covers of several pieces of music, and of a volume of poems by his brother, entitled "Chansons Colorées"; in addition, he is well known as a book illustrator. His point of view is somewhat akin to that of Toulouse Lautrec: he is passionately interested in his own moment, and depicts modern life with similar insistence on its ugly and grotesque aspects. And yet Ibels rarely fails to be decorative, and his style is the outcome of his own artistic personality, rather than the result of study of the work of other men. In his posters he has been conspicuously successful; so much so, that it is difficult to point to a single failure, though, it must be remembered, that as yet his productions have not been very numerous. It is possible

 

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.

So far as I know, Anquetin has only produced two affiches of importance, but each

 

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.

If Anquetin is an artist of marked originality, so, in a manner totally different, is Pierre Bonnard. Save in the small number of his posters, he resembles Anquetin in hardly anything; on the other hand, his work has points of similarity with the later work of Lautrec. The posters of both these artists are decorative in a curious and somewhat similar sort of way, decorative in spite of their marked grotesqueness. Between the "Confetti" of Lautrec and the "Revue Blanche" of Bonnard there is a distinct decorative affinity. As both of them are dated the same year, 1894, it is needless to suggest that either of these intensely personal artists has derived anything from the other; there is, indeed, no evidence whatsoever of imitation, or even influence. Of the two best-known posters of Bonnard, the "France Champagne" is the earlier in point of time, having been published in 1891. It is a lithograph in three colours, and represents an extraordinarily fantastic, and extremely décolletée girl, who holds in one hand a

 

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.

The style of De Feure, if not so well adapted to poster work as that of some of his contemporaries, is nevertheless very interesting. His most characteristic effort is, perhaps, the "Salon des Cent, 5^e Exposition." This design is very modern and very fantastic. It exists in three states— proofs before letters on vellum, proofs on Japanese paper, and ordinary' prints. The proofs before letters command very good

 

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.