Fernand Louis Gottlob

Poster for a Salon des Cent exhibition in December 1899

Fernand Louis Gottlob was born in Paris in 1873. He studied under the painter-decorator Armand Félix Marie Jobbé-Duval (1821–1889).[1] He was also taught by Laporte and G. Fuchs.[2] He became a painter, lithographer, caricaturist, commercial artist, illustrator and graphic designer for song scores.[1] He created portraits, illustrations for books and caricatures that appeared in popular magazines in Paris including Le Rire, Le Journal Amusement and Le Sourire.[3] His work began to be shown in the official salons in 1891.[2]

Gottlob was among the artists who contributed to L'Estampe Moderne, a limited edition series of portfolios of high-quality lithographs that was published monthly from May 1897 and April 1899.[4] His work first appeared in L'Assiette au Beurre in the second issue, on 11 April 1901.[5] He became a member of the Cornet Society in 1904 and, between then and his death designed twelve menus for the society.[3] He died in Paris in 1935.[1]

Gottlob's 1900 poster for the 2nd Exposition of Painter-Lithographers on the Rue Drouot in Paris shows a strong influence of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in its composition.[6] A woman is in front of a large illuminated window, and the dramatic back-lighting emphasizes the dark forms of her dress and hat.[7] He created relatively few posters in his life, but this exposition of posters was one in which he participated.[8] In addition to lithographs and portraits, he painted cityscapes of Paris and landscapes of Normandy and Brittany.[5]

In one of Gottlob's poignant images for the Assiette au Beurre he shows a mother with her children during a snowstorm, in front of the window of a bakery. The mother is explaining, "Ça, mon enfant, c'est du pain" ("That is bread, my child").[9] In 1916 he designed a poster for the Ligue Souvenez-vous! which they produced in large numbers and also used as a stamp.

In the 1970s Irene and Howard Stein began collecting color posters by well-known artists of the early 20th century such as Mucha, Chéret and Gottlob. Their collection grew with the acquisition of work by Toulouse-Lautrec to become one of the largest such collections in the United States.[10]

Posters

Poster 5 in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche

• 1899 : Exposition au Salon des Cent.
• 1900 : 2^e Exposition des Peintres-Lithographes (Imprimeries Lemercier) sur Gallica.
• 1905 : Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique. Les Pêcheurs de St. Jean [Scènes de la vie maritime] de Henri Caïn. Musique de Charles-Marie Widor.
• 1916 : La Matadora
• 1919 : Souvenez-vous ! sur Gallica.