The Art Nouveau era
These days, businesses pay big money on advertising.
Whether it’s by hiring an outside firm or having a dedicated ad department of their own, companies pay this money to ensure that their products and services get promoted in a way that will capture the attention of the public – often using innovative or artistic marketing campaigns to do so.
But this wasn’t always the case.
In fact, it’s only in recent decades that advertising has been considered so important.
For that, we have to thank a flurry of activity around the end of the 19th Century – mainly focused in Europe, when the Art Nouveau era was at its peak.
During this period, some of the best artists in the world hired out their pens and paintbrushes to all manner of businesses and ad firms, for the purposes of promoting services and products.
And thus, modern advertising was born.
Let’s take a look at 11 Art Nouveau posters that explain how it came to be:
Absinthe Robette – Henri Privat-Livemont (1898)
In the 1890s, a common motif emerged when it came to advertising certain products, like alcoholic beverages or cigarettes.
The motif involved having beautiful women wearing next to nothing, with their hair flowing freely, and with adoring expressions about the products they were promoting.
Such is the case with Henri Privat-Livemont’s Absinthe Robette. Privat-Livemont, a Belgian artist, depicts the alcoholic drink in an almost life-affirmed way in this bright, colourful poster – as if it contains some health-giving properties or, even further, some secrets of the universe. In a city where women were gaining more social freedoms and absinthe was becoming an increasingly trendy drink, this poster was aimed at audiences – men and women – who might want to get in on the trend.
Absinthe Robette – Henri Privat-Livemont
La Chat Noir – Théophile Steinlen
La Chat Noir - Théophile Steinlen (1896)
Théophile Steinlen’s famous La Chat Noir poster advertises the titular entertainment establishment as it was set to tour other cities, where its troupe of cabaret entertainers would be performing to new audiences. (The text on the poster reads “Coming soon, Rodolphe Salis’s Le Chat Noir on tour.”)
In keeping with the Art Nouveau style, the point of this poster was to dazzle, rather than to straightforwardly relay information (note how the poster tells you absolutely nothing about the entertainers themselves).
Steinlen, like most of the Art Nouveau designers, believed that the aesthetic forms and the expression of art were as important as the information and content contained within the poster. He also perhaps had an eye to the future – envisioning how posters like this might represent the era, as well as the contemporary moment.
Eldorado - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1894)
In this poster, Toulouse-Lautrec depicts French singer, comedian, and nightclub owner Aristide Bruant for an upcoming tour.
Bruant was considered a larger-than-life character, who gleefully insulted his audiences and gained a reputation for his wit and character. He was upper class but was well known within bohemian circles within the city.
Toulouse-Lautrec tries to capture the contrasts and larger-than-life elements in this poster. Look at the unusual angle he’s chosen, look at the heavy colours, and look at the flattened perspective. For the artist – who depicted everyone from high-earning entertainers to lowly prostitutes – the aim was to tell a compelling, eye-grabbing stories about his subjects, rather than represent them as accurately as he could.
Eldorado – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Saponite – Unknown Artist
Saponite – Unknown Artist (circa 1894)
One of the most famous Art Nouveau posters from the era, this image advertises Saponite laundry detergent, with Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis Philippe, and the mythical figure of Marianne depicted in the image, appearing to discuss the soap’s merits.
As if to stress how prolific this era was for iconic posters, the name of this poster’s artist has gotten lost in history, but its legacy is still very much alive.
Not only is the Art Noveau style interesting here – but the content of this poster is extremely controversial. It raises questions about the ownership of imagery (after all, the scene depicted here never existed). The poster provoked questions like: Is it right to use the likeness of someone else for mass-marketing purposes without their permission? Is it right to use the likeness of someone who is dead for mass-marketing purposes? And, even further, is it right to do any of this for the purposes of advertising?
These are bold questions that society – and artists – are still asking themselves today.
Terminus - Francisco Tamagno (1900)
As with Absinthe Rosette, drinks company Terminus was also attempting to promote its own brand of absinthe. This poster, designed by artist Francisco Tamagno, features the likeness of French actress Sarah Bernhardt – one of the most prominent celebrities of her day. It depicts her mid-celebration, toasting her absinthe drink alongside another actress.
The poster was important historically, as Bernhardt later sued the Terminus drinks company – and won – because they hadn’t asked for permission to use her likeness. In terms of celebrity endorsements in advertisements, this was to have long-lasting ramifications for the development of advertising.
Terminus – Francisco Tamagno
Bosboom – Richard Roland-Holst
Bosboom - Richard Roland-Holst (1917)
A departure from some of the images listed above, Roland-Holst showed that the Art Noveau style was still alive and still pushing boundaries 17 years into the 20th century.
The poster was created for an exhibition that commemorated Dutch painter Johannes Bosboom, on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
As with much of Roland-Holst’s work, it is minimal in style and austere in what it depicts. But it is still in keeping with the developments of Art Nouveau and advertising. Roland-Holst aims to create something artist, something long lasting, as well as something which serves a basic promotional function.
Fiammiferi Senza Fosforo - Adolfo Hohenstein (1905)
German painter Hohenstein had a bold ability to make in-depth compositions that almost veered on the excessive in terms of their elegancy, power, and mythical nature. But, in keeping with the ‘Nouveau’ part of Art Nouveau, that was kind of the point; he favoured posters that felt like a spectacle, rather than an advert.
In Fiammiferi Senza Fosforo, Hohenstein was, perhaps unbelievably, advertising safety matches that contain red phosphorous. But in his artwork, Hohenstein is sending a message that can’t really be ignored – these matches aren’t just any matches, they’re matches of almost biblical abilities.
As far as advertising and art go, you can’t get much more eye-grabbing than that
Fiammiferi Senza Fosforo – Adolfo Hohenstein
Mostra Del Ciclo E Dell’automobile – Leopoldo Metlicovitz
Mostra Del Ciclo E Dell’automobile - Leopoldo Metlicovitz (1907)
Similar to Hohenstein, Italian artist Metlicovitz could be said to have pushed the limits of elegant poster design with his work.
In this image, designed for the 1907 Milan Auto Show, a racer careens through the poster, tailed by a seraph bearing prizes, as the background colours seem to fade into the distance at the speed with which the racer is driving.
Here, something as simple as an Auto Show takes on a mythical significance.
Biscuits Champagne – Alphonse Mucha (1896)
Up until the Art Nouveau era, many didn’t consider advertising to have anything to do with art. However, artists like Alphonse Mucha changed that perspective, contributing as much to the advertising world as they did to any other medium.
In Biscuits Champagne, we see high society figures drinking and enjoying a social occasion, as well as eating biscuits.
The beauty – and irony – of this poster is that biscuits were actually considered cheap, affordable snacks for the masses. But here, Mucha puts them in a new setting, effectively making them seem classy and upmarket.
The point is that the poster is aspirational – it makes people think that by consuming these biscuits, they can live a life similar to the one depicted. In advertising terms, this is incredibly effective.
Biscuits Champagne – Alphonse Mucha
Loie Fuller – Jules Chéret
Loie Fuller - Jules Chéret (1893)
As we’ve already established in this article, Art Nouveau posters of the 1890s frequently depicted women as alluring figures.
Here, Chéret captures the spirit of the American dancer Loie Fuller during the height of the cabaret era. Fuller was a pioneer of modern dance and innovative choreography. With this poster, Chéret gives an inspired representation of her pioneering style.
Tropon - Henry Van de Velde (1898)
Belgian painter Henry Van de Velde showed that the ornate style of Art Nouveau posters can even be used to advertise things as run-of-the-mill as egg-based proteins.
With the industrial revolution bringing many more processed food products to the market (many of which initially seemed unappealing or were treated with scepticism by the public), poster artists helped give these products – and the businesses that made them – a compelling brand identity.
Tropon – Henry Van de Velde
Art nouveau advertising offered a new way of communicating with the public
The late 19th Century saw many artists turn their attention to the world of advertising – both for financial reasons and for the possibilities it opened up to them in terms of their art.
With innovative posters, unusual ideas, plenty of controversies, and dedicated mass marketing campaigns, this period gave birth to modern advertising as we know it today.
