Art | January 12, 2026

Jules Chéret and the Birth of the Modern Poster 

Jules Chéret’s Rococo-style posters for such venues as Folies-Bergère and Moulin Rouge featured beautiful French women, most of them celebrities of cabaret, opera, and other popular forms of Parisian entertainment. Chéret often depicted them commanding center stage as they danced, their raised hemlines and plunging necklines offering tantalizing glimpses of their voluptuous figures. Their blatant sex appeal and imagined glamourous lifestyles attracted the attention of Parisians, who referred to the showgirls as “Chérettes.” The public admired Chéret’s richly colored, energetic posters that were plastered on buildings, fences, streetcars, and advertising columns. The late-nineteenth-century urban landscape became an art gallery of lush images. Chéret’s posters were more than advertisements; they were works of art that showed that commerce and beauty could coexist, and they established Chéret as the father of the modern poster.