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Jules Chéret, born May 31, 1836 – died September 23, 1932, was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of poster art.
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Born in Paris, France to a poor but creative family of artisans, a lack of finances meant Jules Chéret had very limited education. At age 13, he began a three-year apprenticeship with a lithographer and then his interest in painting led him to take an art course at the École Nationale de Dessin.
Like most other fledgling artists, Chéret studied the techniques of various artists, past and present, by visiting Paris museums. Although some of his paintings earned him a certain respect, it was work creating advertising posters that he took on just to pay his bills that eventually became his dedication and for which he is remembered today. Influenced by the scenes of frivolity depicted in the works of Jean-Honoré Fragonard and other Rococo artists such as Antoine Watteau, Chéret created vivid poster ads for the cabarets, music halls, and theaters such as the Eldorado, the Olympia, the Folies Bergères, Theatre de l’Opera, the Alcazar d'Ete and the Moulin Rouge. So much in demand, he expanded his business to providing advertisements for the plays of touring troupes, municipal festivals, and then for beverages and liquors, perfumes, soaps, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Eventually he became a major advertising force, adding the railroad companies and a number of manufacturing businesses to his client list.
In 1895, Chéret created the Maîtres de l'Affiche collection, a significant art publication of smaller sized reproductions featuring the best works of ninety-seven Parisian artists. His success inspired an industry that saw the emergence of a new generation of poster designers and painters such as Charles Gesmar and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
In his old age Jules Chéret retired to the balmy climate of the French Riviera at Nice. He passed away in 1932 at the age of ninety-six and was interred in the Cimetière Saint-Vincent in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.
In 1933 he was honored with a posthumous exhibition of his work at the prestigious Salon d'Automne in Paris. Over the years, Chéret's posters became much sought after by collectors from around the world.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret is in Nice.de:Jules Chéret