Orphée aux enfers
Chéret’s first colour-lithograph poster, for Offenbach’s operetta.
In 1858 Jules Chéret made a poster for Jacques Offenbach’s operetta Orphée aux enfers. It is counted as his first poster in colour and as the start of his career as a poster artist.
Chéret then developed lithography with several colour stones so that large, cheap posters could be printed. It changed the look of the Paris streets.
Materials: Colour lithograph on paper
Manufacture: Printed as a lithograph in Paris in 1858.
The dancing woman in a colourful costume.
The text with the name of the operetta.
The contrast between black lines and fields of colour.