# Belle Époque Lithographic Poster

> The large colour lithographic street poster that turned Paris into an open-air gallery, from Jules Chéret's first posters of 1866 to Leonetto Cappiello before the First World War. One dominant, animated figure, flat or vaporous colour printed from a few stones, and lettering drawn by the artist directly on the stone sell cabarets, spectacles, drinks and bicycles at a glance.

- Period: 1866–1914
- Where: Western Europe
- Origin: Paris, France, spreading to Brussels, London and Milan
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Affichomanie, Golden Age of the Poster, French artistic poster
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/belle-epoque-poster/

## How it works

- Build the sheet around one large, animated figure that can be read from across the boulevard.
- Draw the lettering by hand on the stone and weave it into the picture rather than setting it in a separate block.
- Print from a few stones: a black key drawing plus flat red, yellow and blue, adding spatter or translucent tints for atmosphere.
- Simplify forms into silhouettes and bold contours, cropping and tilting them for movement.
- Sell pleasure: show gaiety, spectacle and the product's promise rather than describing the product.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Script](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/script/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining)
- [Primary triad](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/primary-triad/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)
- [Dark ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dark-ground/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (occasional)
- [Whiplash line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/whiplash-line/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (defining)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (occasional)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (occasional)

Avoids: Typography only, Modular grid, Flat hierarchy, Straight photography, Monochrome, Non-representational

Palette: #f3e7c9, #d7322a, #f0b62b, #2b4f8c, #1b1a1a, #7d8a3a

Typefaces: Artist's lettering drawn directly on the lithographic stone, Chéret's bouncing, irregular display capitals, Fat-face and Clarendon poster capitals inherited from letterpress bills

Known for: Jules Chéret (Bal du Moulin Rouge, 1889); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Moulin Rouge – La Goulue, 1891); Pierre Bonnard (France-Champagne, 1891); Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Tournée du Chat Noir, 1896); Leonetto Cappiello (Le Thermogène, 1909); Imprimerie Chaix and Les Maîtres de l'Affiche (1895–1900)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Victorian Letterpress & Wood Type](https://stylogeny.com/styles/victorian-letterpress.md) (1810–1900)
- Influenced by: [Japonisme](https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme.md) (1860–1910)
- Led to: [Plakatstil / Sachplakat](https://stylogeny.com/styles/plakatstil.md) (1905–1920)
- Led to: [Egyptian Painted Film Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-film-poster.md) (1932–1996)
- Alike in its design choices: [French Post-War Visual-Gag Poster (Savignac, Villemot, Morvan)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/french-gag-poster.md) (1948–1979), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Hungarian Revolutionary Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hungarian-activist-poster.md) (1912–1919), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Spanish Civil War Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/spanish-civil-war-poster.md) (1936–1939), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Early Turkish Republican Graphic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-republican-graphics.md) (1925–1960), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Australian Travel Poster (ANTA Era)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/australian-travel-poster.md) (1929–1959), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Polish Poster School](https://stylogeny.com/styles/polish-poster-school.md) (1950–1990), 60% alike

## Real works

- [Moulin Rouge: La Goulue](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/333990): Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1891, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Pastilles Poncelet](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1987.1064): Jules Chéret, 1896, Cleveland Museum of Art
- [Tournée du Chat Noir avec Rodolphe Salis](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tourn%C3%A9e_du_Chat_noir_avec_Rodolphe_Salis,_RP-P-1969-78.jpg): Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, 1896, Rijksmuseum (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [France-Champagne](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:France-Champagne_-_affiche_-_PB_(Pierre_Bonnard)_-_btv1b90038712.jpg): Pierre Bonnard, 1891, Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [Le Thermogène: engendre la chaleur et guérit](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cappiello_Thermog%C3%A8ne_warms_you_up.jpg): Leonetto Cappiello, 1909, National Museum in Warsaw, Poster Museum at Wilanów (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [A Gaiety Girl](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Gaiety_girl_-_jeune_femme_%C3%A0_l%27ombrelle_-_affiche_-_affiche_-_Dudley_Hardy_-_btv1b90093872.jpg): Dudley Hardy, 1895, Bibliothèque nationale de France (via Wikimedia Commons)

## Sources

- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- Ruth E. Iskin, The Poster: Art, Advertising, Design, and Collecting, 1860s–1900s (2014)
- Alain Weill, The Poster: A Worldwide Survey and History (1985)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Belle Époque Lithographic Poster”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/belle-epoque-poster/