Feb 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2695 -
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Sale 2695 - Lot 13

Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000

JULES CHÉRET (1836-1932)

[LES ARTS]. Four decorative panels. 1891.

Each 49x33 inches, 124½x83¾ cm. Chaix, Paris.
Condition B+: each with recreated margins; small replaced losses, repaired tears and minor restoration at edges and in image. Colors bright.

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 Fileuse 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 was 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, Cheret 76-79, Maindron 56, Reims 307.
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