JULES CHERET (1836-1932) BAZAR DU VOYAGE. 1876. 403/4x311/2 inches. Cheret, Paris. Condition A. Jules Cheret is universally acknowledged as the father of the poster. He created his first poster in 1858, for Orphee aux Enfers an operetta, and went on to design more than 1000 images over the course of his career. In the 1880s, Cheret made some tremendous, even revolutionary, innovations in the art of color lithography, but for the first 30 years of his career his posters were essentially red, against a gradiated green-blue background . During these early years he mainly designed posters for circuses and music halls, but never refused any commission, whether from a department store or for individual products, like the two offered here. These are very rare documents, both as Cheret posters and as windows to the post-industrial revolution era and the products that paved the way for modern comforts! In the 1870s traveling was very much in vogue for the bourgeoisie. But their style of travel was quite different from how we travel today. While today we place emphasis on traveling "light," back then people traveled with extensive luggage. The strict dress codes of the era necessitated huge trunks to accommodate the appropriate clothing for long journeys. The Bazar du Voyage, with its elegant location on the Place de l'Opera was the complete travel store, providing a whole range of necessities plus some clever inventions for the indulgent "modern" traveler. Here Cheret depicts a folding table for people confined to bed; he shows a sick young woman, clearly in luxurious surroundings (note the tigerskin rug and the opulent furniture), whose suffering is mitigated by this contraption that allows her to enjoy a meal and a book in the comfort of her bed. Maindron 844, Broido 1021.
