Saxoléine, Jules Chéret

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This poster is an ad for the oil company “Saxoleine” distributed as a print supplement added to the French illustrated weekly “Courrier Français” of January 26, 1896. It was reserved for subscribers of the magazine only. 

The woman depicted is the Danish dancer, actress and singer Charlotte Wiehe who becomes Chéret's muse.


Dimensions : 22 1/4 x 15 3/16 in.

Considered by many the “Father of the Modern Poster”, Jules Chéret was known by many to have redefined and reestablished what lithography printmaking could be. Studying lithography in London from 1859-1866, Chéret returned to Paris and began creating vividly colored poster ads for theaters and cabarets. This poster, like many others of Chéret, features a fanciful and well-dressed woman lit by oil lamp advertising a non-flammable safety oil to be used in said lamps. Chéret depicted the women in his posters as free-spirited and self confident, often clad in low-cut gowns and clearly unashamed of smoking or drinking in public.  His art proclaimed a new and more open atmosphere in Paris. 

Lithographic Poster Advertising Safety Oil
Lithographic Poster Advertising Safety Oil