Various artists — series directed by Jules Chéret Les Maîtres de l’Affiche — set of 12 original plates, 1896–1900

By CHERET Jules (1836-1932)

arious artists — series directed by Jules Chéret
Les Maîtres de l’Affiche — set of 12 original plates, 1896–1900
Date / publisher: Imprimerie Chaix, Paris (Lorilleux inks)
Original colour lithographs (reductions of the great Belle Époque posters), each with the Chaix blindstamp lower right (Lugt 1777c) and the “Les Maîtres de l’Affiche PL. … / Imprimerie Chaix (Encres Lorilleux & Cie)” caption lower left; each poster signed in the stone by its artist. Not numbered — subscription series, edition size unrecorded. 12 numbered plates
Dimensions: sheet 39.5 × 29.5 cm (15½ × 11⅝ in.); landscape plates (PL. 54, PL. 68, PL. 102, PL. 183, PL. 194) the reverse, 29.5 × 39.5 cm (11⅝ × 15½ in.). Full untrimmed margins throughout

Plates in the set:
PL. 7 — Georges Meunier — Frossard’s Cavour Cigars, “The New Woman”
PL. 34 — Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen — Hellé, opera by Alphonse Duvernoy, Académie Nationale de Musique
PL. 48 — Dudley Hardy — “The Chieftain”, Savoy Theatre
PL. 54 — Pierre Puvis de Chavannes — L’Enfance de Sainte Geneviève (four-panel frieze, landscape)
PL. 59 — Auguste Donnay — Ville de Liège, Concours International de Chant d’Ensemble, 1895
PL. 68 — Otto Fischer — “Die Alte Stadt”, Ausstellung des Saechsischen Handwerks, Dresden 1896 (landscape)
PL. 93 — Jules Chéret — Mlle Camille Stéfani
PL. 102 — Henri-Gabriel Ibels — Pierrefort, 12 rue Bonaparte — dessins, tableaux, affiches artistiques (landscape)
PL. 183 — Georges Fay — Amieux-Frères, sardines et conserves (signed and dated 99 in the stone, landscape)
PL. 188 — Rudolf Koller — Jubiläums-Ausstellung Zürich, Künstlerhaus und Börse, 1898
PL. 194 — Adolphe Willette — Exposition des Œuvres de Charlet, Galeries Durand-Ruel (landscape)
PL. 240 — Johann Georg van Caspel — W. Hoogenstraaten & Co, Fijne Groenten, Soepen & Sausen (final plate of the series)

Condition: Good to very good overall, materially better than is usual for the series. Full untrimmed margins on every sheet, strong colours, no tears, no paper losses, no washing or restoration visible. Individual notes: PL. 34 Steinlen, scattered foxing across the upper right of the image and the right margin (the weakest sheet); PL. 54 Puvis de Chavannes, horizontal crease across the centre of the sheet with adhesive residue and small dark deposits along it, consistent with an old mount, image unaffected; PL. 240 van Caspel, brown stain to the upper right corner, outside the image; PL. 183 Fay and PL. 7 Meunier, a few small marginal foxing spots; PL. 194 Willette and PL. 102 Ibels, light cockling and minor nicks to the sheet edges; PL. 48, 59, 68, 93 and 188 clean, with light overall toning only. Ready to frame as they stand.
Description: A group of 12 authentic plates from the celebrated Maîtres de l’Affiche, the monthly series published by Chaix between 1895 and 1900 under the artistic direction of Jules Chéret, which reproduced the finest French and international posters of the 1890s. The selection is unusually international: alongside Chéret and Willette it brings together the Belgian Donnay, the German Otto Fischer, the Swiss Koller and Steinlen, and the Dutchman van Caspel, whose W. Hoogenstraaten & Co closed the series at plate 240. The Puvis de Chavannes plate is atypical, reproducing not a commercial poster but the Sainte Geneviève frieze.