Picture Posters: A Short History of the Illustrated Placard with Many Reproductions of the Most Artistic Examples in all CountriesHiatt, Charles
History
Picture Posters: A Short History of the Illustrated Placard with Many Reproductions of the Most Artistic Examples in all Countries
Hiatt, Charles
Posters -- History
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 Cheret 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 Reve." 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
aesthetic 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 Colorees"; 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
[Illustration: 0124]
[Illustration: 0126]
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