Thé Rajah is a piece created by Belgian lithographer and poster designer Henri Meunier in 1897 at the height of the French Belle Époque. The Belle Époque is looked upon in retrospect as a sort of "golden age" for French society. For this brief period of time from 1880 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the region as a whole enjoyed relative economic prosperity, industrial innovation, and optimism for the future. It was this same societal optimism that was increasingly reflected in the bold-lined and vibrantly poster artworks that came to prominence during the time period. Master artists of this craft included the lithographer Jules Chéret, whose talents attracted commissions from many of the largest cabarets, theaters, and advertising campaigns of the time. These included works for the Moulin Rouge, Théâtre de l'Opéra, and Vin Mariani respectively. Works such as these contributed to the burgeoning development of an internationally-growing artistic style known as Art Nouveau.
Mariani tonic Wine - Jules Chéret, 1894
F. Champenois Imprimeur-Editeur - Alphonse Mucha, 1897
The Art Nouveau style was borne largely out a rejection of academic art styles, particularly what was seen as an overemphasis on "fine arts" like painting a sculpture. Art Nouveau emphasized the application of the style to mediums ranging from architecture, to textiles, to graphic art and often emphasized the use of sinuous, natural curves and bold lines. Though it experienced a period of explosive popularity in the late 1800s to early 1900s, the style was largely replaced by the Art Deco and later Modernist styles in the years to come after WWI.
While Henri Meunier is a relatively unknown figure in the Art Nouveau period, several of his works, such as Thé Rajah and L'Heure de Silence, survive to this day. Henri was the son of the Belgian etcher Jean-Baptiste Meunier, honing his skills for bookbinding and later print and poster-making while working in his fathers shop. Inspired by the bold line work and flattened color fills of earlier Japanese woodblock printers, the subjects of Meunier's works are often composed of more boldly defined shapes and curves than in other works of the same time period.
Thé Rajah - Henri Meunier,1897
My recreation:
As always, feedback on this project as well as suggestions for future works are always appreciated. Thank you!
Publish0x reflink: https://www.publish0x.com?a=M7e58kDYd2
r.c affiliate link: https://read.cash/r/tych0_21