Paige Hall-Petry–Post #1




Figure 1. Cheret, J., (1893) Le Loie Fuller (Lithographic poster), Retrieved from


Old posters like this lithograph ‘La Loie Fuller” by Jules Cheret (Figure 1) first made in 1893 hold a warm place in my heart, not because I think that these pieces are perfectly aesthetic in contemporary society, but because they have become such popular iconography of an era that many wouldn’t recognize as the beginnings of the art poster and graphic design. Jules Chert and other French designers’ images have been kept alive for centuries by the mass reproduction. Posters like this one, Le Loie Fuller, seen here are images that are relatable, easily accessed, and still available to see everywhere today.

 

 For these reasons the early-print poster reminds me of another 19th century French poster made as an advertisement for an early cabaret, "Tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salisby" (Figure 2) by Théophile Steinlen, made in 1896, which may have an even greater level of familiarity with a large, out-of-context audience today. I have a reproduction in my kitchen, sized at about 5’ x 6’ and I see all over local bars and in other homes. Similarly to Cheret's lithographic, the maker’s hand portrayed in these works through the lithographic process, not by choice but by necessity makes it intricate, fragile and vulnerable, yet in an age of technology, reproducing prints of this fragility detracts from it’s original visual interest. Another graphic that Cheret's piece displayed in Graphic Design: A Concise History, is Porto Ramos-Pinto (Figure 3.) by Rene Vincent in the beginning of the 20th century. Not only do I have a cheap digital print of this image, but I see it nearly everywhere, including on the set of sitcom, Friends.


Figure 3. Vincent, R., (1925), "Porto Ramos-Pinto" (Lithographic poster), Retrieved from https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/original-1920s-porto-ramos-pinto-poster-rene-vinc-21-c-be49e087fe on 16 January 2020.

  As an artist, I call into question the reproducibility of art and artist’s creativity due to the fact that these posters from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s have been regenerated in the digital age a significant amount of time to the end that leaves the work divided from it’s creator as it seems to become public domain. But for a designer, is there success in the reproducibility (and thus familiarity) of one’s work? What does it mean for a piece of art or design to become so familiar in everyday life hundreds of years later, to me, that seems like a damn successful work of art. To be a piece so mass-produced that it’s image is so recognizable and familiar to a wide, diverse audience around the world. 

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