Poster By Jules Chéret (1836–1932): Roller Coaster, Spanish Dancers

Jules Chéret (1836–1932) was a French painter, lithographer, and poster artist. Considered the father of the modern artistic poster, Jules Chéret was a pioneer of large-format lithographic art. His free and alluring style, along with his prolific output, earned him the nicknames “Tiepolo of the boulevards” and “Watteau of the crossroads.” During the Belle Époque, Chéret’s advertising posters covered the city’s walls with vibrant colors. Promoting shows, cosmetics, or pharmaceutical products, they typically featured a “chérette”—a stereotypical Parisian woman who was carefree, elegant, and eternally young. By creating more than a thousand posters over the course of his career, Jules Chéret paved the way for the golden age of full-color illustrated posters between the 1870s and 1900. His influence on the artists of his time—such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Georges Seurat, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard—was immense.