Jules Cheret

Jules Cheret, a name synonymous to the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th century, was born in 1836 in Paris into a humble family of typographers and artisans. Thus, creativity and aesthetic awareness were instilled in him as the household that he grew up in was one that was conducive to ingenuity and experimentation. Cheret invested the early years of his youth, receiving art training under a three-year apprenticeship with a lithographer, followed by drawing lessons in the evening under the French artist Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran. As a young student, he absorbed and learnt a lot from some of the works of famous painters in the Louvre and other museums. Thus by the age of 18, Cheret’s unique artistic flair became noticeable and he was able to earn a simple living selling designs and illustrations to customers, most of whom were music producers.
Cheret travelled to London in 1854, where he was exposed to the advanced techniques of lithography which not only awed him, but also inspired him to improve his art by getting at par with the technological advancements of the time. Upon returning to Paris in 1858, Cheret induced that pictorial lithographic posters were the future of graphic design, but he found it extremely suffocating because none of the advertisers were convinced by this. He received his first stroke of luck in the form of a commission for a poster advertising Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld. Thwarted when this failed to prompt more commissions, Cheret returned to London where he spent the next seven years evolving his lithography expertise, and consequently imbibing the British style of poster design and printing. During this time period, Cheret worked for Cramer publishers where he made illustrations, designed book covers and posters for music halls, theatres, cabarets, and circuses.
Upon returning to Paris in 1866, Cheret’s friend introduced him to perfume manufacturer Eugene Rimmel, for whom he began designing perfume