JULES CHERET BULLIER. 1888. 48x34 inches. Chaix, Paris. Condition B+: paper loss, repaired tears and creases in margins. Mounted on old linen. Bullier was a popular and trendy "night club" which was the "destination" for Bohemian Paris. Jane Avril started her dancing career in their halls and many of the legendary Montparnasse artists, such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Pablo Picasso and Andre Salmon, were regulars. More importantly than just being a well-balanced, classic allegorical composition of music and dance, this poster represents the exact moment in time when Cheret mastered the art of lithographic coloring. Two versions of this poster exist, both of which were printed at the same time and using the same black plate. In the more commonly seen version, which is so representative of Cheret's work in the 1880s, the young lady is wearing a red dress and is against his usual gradated green background. In this version, which is truly a color revolution, we see that Cheret has finally figured out how to master the use of colors in the lithographic process. Here, the dress is yellow, the background is blue and the letters are red. Cheret's three important primary colors have, for the first time, been brought under his control. Broido 280 (var), Maidron 242.
