Les Maîtres de l'Affiche

Maîtres de l'Affiche (Masters of the Poster) refers to 256 color lithographic plates used to create an art publication during the Belle Époque in Paris, France. The collection, reproduced from the original works of ninety-seven artists in a smaller 11 x 15 inch format, was put together by Jules Chéret, the father of poster art.[1]

Front cover (Paul Berthon)

Publishing history

The varied selection of prints were sold in packages of four and delivered monthly to subscribers. On sixteen occasions during the selling period between December 1895 through November 1900, the monthly package included a bonus of a specially created lithograph.

A complete set, in five volumes, was sold in 2014 for US$43,450.[2]

  • Les Maîtres de l'affiche: volume 1 (in French). Paris: Chaix. 1895.
Volume 1 contains plates 1 to 48 and two original drawings by Jules Chéret.
The posters are on the Commons page : Posters in volume 1 of Maîtres de l'affiche
Volume 2 contains plates 49 to 96and two original drawings by Jules Chéret and Adolphe Willette.
The posters are on the Commons page : Posters in volume 2 of Maîtres de l'affiche
Volume 3 contains plates 97 to 144 and four original drawings by Jules Chéret, Georges de Feure, Henri-Gabriel Ibels and Théophile Alexandre Steinlen
The posters are on the Commons page : Posters in volume 3 of Maîtres de l'affiche
Volume 4 contains plates 145 to 192 and four original drawings by Jules Chéret, Crafty (artist), Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen et Adolphe Willette.
The posters are on the Commons page : Posters in volume 4 of Maîtres de l'affiche
Volume 5 contains plates 193 to 240 and four original drawings by Paul Berthon, Jules Chéret(2) et Charles Léandre. (plates #204 et #212 are missing)
The posters are on the Commons page : Posters in volume 5 of Maîtres de l'affiche

Selected posters

All the poster, in alphabetical order, can be seen on the Commons page: Les Maîtres de l'Affiche.

The artists

Indexes of posters in the collection are given after names of their authors.

  • Caran d'Ache (70)
  • William Carqueville (44, 132)
  • Henri Cassiers (228)
  • Frédéric-Auguste Cazals (15)
  • E. Charle Lucas (155, 210, 234)
  • Alexandre Charpentier (131)
  • Jules Chéret (1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 65, 69, 73, 77, 81, 85, 89, 93, 97, 101, 105, 109, 113, 117, 121, 125, 129, 133, 137, 141, 145, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165, 169, 173, 177, 181, 185, 189, 193, 197, 201, 205, 209, 213, 217, 221, 225, 229, 233, 237)
  • Crafty (artist)
  • Adolphe Crespin (28,91)
  • Rudolph Koller (188)

References
  1. The Complete "Masters of the poster" : all 256 color plates from "les Maîtres de l'affiche". Appelbaum, Stanley. New York: Dover. 1990. ISBN 0-486-26309-6. OCLC 20670614.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "AbeBooks' 50 Most Expensive Sales of 2014". AbeBooks.com. AbeBooks Inc. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. James Pryde and William Nicholson formed a duo « Beggarstaffs ».
  4. Fred Hyland and Leigh Ellis, the first english, le second american, were active at the end of the XIXe century, signe the poster The Gay Parisienne , printed in London, « Hyland Ellis » ; the poster: Harpers' Magazine - The Martian, also printed in London, is signed Fred Hyland.
  5. V. Guillet (?-?) signed the poster with Vincent Lorant-Heilbronn, could be the artist Valentine Guillet, born in 1876, author of a number of posters for films: Liste de ses affiches, Base VIAF/Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  6. Two posters, printed in Prague, are anonymous : the first from the illustrated journal Zlata Praha and the second a publicity for the jeweller F. & D. Malý. However, Marx and Chéret mention in the final brochure the name of « Reis[s]ner », which may be the artist Karel Reisner


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