Belle Epoque: posters & graphics. Victor Arwas. 1978.

The last decades of the nineteenth century in France were years of great style and elegance which became known as the ‘Belle Epoque’. They were also the triumphant years of the original print and the colour poster. New printing techniques enabled artists to portray all sides of this fascinating era: elegant society occasions, the everyday pursuits of the bourgeoisie, cafe and street scenes, and the nightlife of the bars, music-halls, clubs and cabaret artistes. This selection of posters and graphics contains the work of nine artists, representative of those who created the image of the Belle Epoque. Included are works by the celebrated masters of the poster such as Cheret, Steinlen and Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as those by several lesser known artists such as Legrand, Tissot and Lunois.