Pantomimes Lumineuses

This theater poster by Jules Cheret is lively, vibrant, and stands out through its high contrast use of primary colors.  The main subject is a woman in a musical environment furthered by her stance and musical instruments strewn by her feet.  The poster exemplifies Cheret’s style known as Belle Epoque poster art, meaning “the beautiful age”.  This beautiful age is characterized by the free-spirited women depicted in them, previously depicted in art as prostitutes or puritans.  This change in female perception was freeing, particularly for Parisian women and introduced a more open atmosphere in Paris.  Women could engage in formerly taboo activities such as wearing low-cut bodices and smoking in public.  These changes led to pundits calling Cheret the “father of women's liberation”. Jules Cheret was trained in lithography in London. British lithography heavily influenced his poster designs and printing.