16.7.10

Postcards from Paris: {Jules Cheret}

Something about his posters makes me wish I was wearing red or had on a hat or my hair in a full Victorian-era bun sitting on the top of my head.
I got stalled one day recently in this bookshop off the Canal Saint Martin. There was this beautiful red-silk covered book sitting on the shelf. It was heavy weighted and filled with page after page of intriguing rough sketches and fully colored illustrations. There were drawings of circus performers and lovely dressed women. Jules Cheret is the creator of these marvelous poster creation. "Jules, Jules, Jules...Cheret" I kept chanting silently in my head so that I would remember his name. Jules, a name that reminds me of a whimsical, quirky man much like the Jules in Jules et Jim
I returned to my flat to rely on wikipedia, and there was his photograph; side profiled and a full, curled-ended mustache. Happy with my research, I went out to stroll some more. Walking along rue Rivoli, there those posters were again! And much to my surprise, I discovered an entire exhibition on "Jules, Jules, Jules Cheret"
Such a delight!





I wish I was around when such posters were a common source of advertisement.
Bisous,
Reba

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are there - the posters are timeless. The expressions the sentiment never leave us. Jules has an imortal "post" on our collective mental blogs....

Kirsten Sparenborg Brinton said...

Well done.
Ah - I LOVE these posters. A resurgence of the painterly meets bold graphics and type is on my list of priorities.