Dec 17, 2008 - Sale 2167

Sale 2167 - Lot 20

Price Realized: $ 40,800
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 40,000 - $ 60,000
JULES CHÉRET (1836-1932) [LES ARTS.] Four decorative panels. 1891.
Each approximately 48 x 33 inches, 122x84 cm. Chaix, Paris.
Conditions vary, generally A / A-: Matted and framed.
Unlike most of the other highly visible, big-name Art Nouveau artists, Chéret designed very few decorative panels, dedicating his art almost entirely to advertising. In fact he only designed two decorative series, comprising a total of six images: The Arts, in 1891, and La Fileuese et la Denteliere for the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Maindron considered these panels to be "perfect" and suggested that the concept of "placards decoratifs" (neither prints nor posters, but a combination of both) were in fact invented by Chéret. The Arts was a series of four images representing the muses. In celebrating them,, Chéret is also celebrating his triumph in mastering color lithography. By 1891 he is at the peak of his talent, playing freely with the composition and fully enjoying the pleasure of drawing. Adding to the unique quality of these panels is the fact that Chéret had free rein with the backgrounds, as no lettering would be added.. Broido 63, Maindron 56, Reims 307.