The early commercial art form of the poster wouldn’t have been possible without the advent of the printing press. The moveable-type printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg about 1450, was based on a machine that pressed grapes. The type form was inked and along with paper was slid under the platen or wooden block. A horizontal lever turned a huge wooden screw so that the platen was raised and lowered, bringing the wood block against the paper. Picture the process with grapes, and voila! The makings of wine.
Early posters were small, plain, unadorned, and mostly text. The invention of lithography about 1800, a form of printing based on the use of stone plates, a hand press, and the theory that grease and water don’t mix, brought new life to the infant world of commercial graphic art. Posters were more alive, sometimes illustrated with simple drawings. Then Jules Cherét, who as a young man worked for a perfumer named Rummel, developed the mechanical lithographic press around 1865. The art form of the poster was imbued with new possibilities in adornment, color, and size.
Perhaps Cherét developed the idea for the mechanical press from his days at the perfume shop, using glass plates to extract essential oils from flower petals. The method, called enfleurage, involves covering glass plates with fat, then spreading flower petals over the fat. The fat absorbs the oil from the petals, forming a greasy pomade. The pomade is treated with alcohol to dissolve out the oil, leaving behind the heady essential oil scents. Sounds remarkably close to the lithographic process. Could it be that wine and perfume are inextricably tied to the advent of graphic design?
Commercial Art
Since 1835 Parisian publishers had been using posters, decorated by the famous illustrators of the day, to advertise their books. Posters also advertised shops, hotels, seaside resorts, and properties for sale. After 1866, for 25 years Cherét produced countless charming and colorful poster ads, close to 1000 in number, becoming known as the undisputed master of poster art. The people became quite enamored of the art form and demand for the prints increased. The poster was coming into its own as an independent art form. Many fine artists and painters caught on to the idea and began to enter the fold of this commercial art business.
The Style of Toulouse-Lautrec
And so Henri Toulouse-Lautrec entered the world of art. Born Henri-Marie-Raymonde de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa, he went on to become a master painter, draftsman, lithographer, and etcher. As a young man Toulouse-Lautrec studied under Bonnat and Cormon. He was always, even as a child, an observant and accurate draftsman of people and animals. He was a gifted illustrator. He longed for acceptance and popular acclaim. He was a bit of a showman. Ultimately, he lived completely for his art.
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