Episode 65: Poster Art: The Belle Epoque

The Belle Epoque was an era of influence in France and much of the world. We look back at that time now and refer to it as a "Golden Age". There was so much going on in the art world between 1871 and 1914 from Impressionism to Art Nouveau, it was an age of new ideas. In the design world color lithography had just been perfected making mass produced art work possible. Artists like Alphonse Mucha, Toulouse-Latrec, Jules Cheret and Eugene Grasset made a name for themselves creating posters for plays and advertising products. Color lithography brought prices down, and for the first time in forever the average Joe could purchase a piece of art. To this day poster from the Belle Epoque Era is still highly collectible.

Mucha

Mucha

Mucha

Toulouse-Latrec

Jules Cheret

Jules Cheret

Jules Cheret

Grasset

Grasset

Tune in next Wednesday when Jo and Chloe talk about Rembrandt! You can listen to all of our past episodes on iTunes U. The link can be found in the side bar.