The last portion of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th are known in France as La Belle ?poque, and it was indeed a beautiful era, producing wonderful literature, music, painting, design, architecture, and graphic art. Ch ret was the father of the French Poster, both as artist and inventor of the lithographic process that enabled easier and cheaper full-color printing. He was quickly followed by such masters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen, Berthon, Mucha, Cappiello, Grun, Pol, Villon, Grasset, and nearly countless others. The poster craze of this era functioned, in Ch rets words, as ?an art gallery of the street? and set the bar high for advertising art for many years. Here in our little collection we offer posters by each of these great masters and many others from this wonderful period of creativity.
