ART & ARTISTS: Bicycle Posters

Monday 14 June 2021

Bicycle Posters - part 2

Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe, and by the early 21st century, more than 1 billion were in existence at a given time. These numbers far exceed the number of cars, both in total and ranked by the number of individual models produced. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions.

The safety bicycle was developed in 1894, and this allowed women the momentous occasion to finally cycle on their own. Advertisers were quick to realise that if women began riding bicycles, then their marketing tactics would have to adapt to increase sales. This proved to be a key moment of transformation: female consumers needed to see themselves in advertising, and the poster art obliged them. For the first time ever, women were given a key element to attaining independence—the bicycle, and all the roving possibilities that entailed—and posters emboldened this new assertion of power. Female cyclists were depicted as goddesses, warriors, angels, enchantresses, and arbiters of their own desires. In posters, the women were in charge.

Posters continued their work of appealing to both female and male consumers. Their depictions of powerful goddesses could inspire female audiences, but they could also be made attractive to men. In this way, advertisers could sell the idea of machines to women and also sell the idea of women using machines to male audiences—a double marketing whammy.

For more information on bicycle posters, and for earlier examples, see part 1 also.

This is part 2 of an 11-part series on bicycle posters:

c1890 Zim Strock & Cie by Wilhio (France)
159.4 x 122.5 cm

c1890s Cyclist Brandy Alfonso de Torres y Hno. Malaca
(Málaga, Spain)

1890s Cycles Clement (France)

1890s Cycles Rochet by Oliver Pichat (France)
189 x 124 cm

c1893 Cycles Rochet (France)

c1893 Keating Cycles (USA)

1894 The May Century Across Asia on a Bicycle by A.W.B. Lincoln (USA)
48.3 x 35.4 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1890s - c1900 Posters by Charles Tichon:

1890s Lu-Mi-Num. by Charles Tichon (France)

1895 Cyclistes!!! Attention by Charles Tichon (France)

1896 Acatène Métropole by Charles Tichon (France)
134 x 96.8 cm

1897 Cycles Brion, Doux Rêve!! by Charles Tichon (France)
80.7 x 59.7 cm

c1898 Centaur Cycles by Charles Tichon (France)
130 x 94.6 cm

1900 Cycles Le Globe by Charles Tichon (France)
131 x 93.4 cm

c1900 Gladiator Cycles Automobiles by Charles Tichon (France)
56 x 37.8 cm

H. Chanon & Cie. Bicyclettes Tandems by Charles Tichon (France)

1890s Posters by Emile Clouet:

1890s Humber by Emile Clouet (France)
147 x 100 cm

1894 Cycles Americains by Emile Clouet (France)
129.5 x 184.2 cm

1894-95 Cycles Frost by Emile Clouet (France)

1894 Tout Le Monde En Voudra!
Decauville Cycles Petit-Bourg by Emile Clouet (France)
140 x 100 cm

1895 Raleigh Avenue de la Grande Armée by Emile Clouet (France)

1895 Swift Cycles by Emile Clouet (France)
81.5 x 65 cm

c1895 Cycles G. Richard by Emile Clouet (France)
49.3 x 35.5 cm

c1900 Cycles Clesse by Emile Clouet (France)
140 x 101.1 cm

c1900 Cycles Clément, Paris by Emile Clouet (France)
35 x 70 cm

Cycles Blondeau & Legrand, Paris by Emile Clouet (France)
130 x 94 cm

Cycles Le Globe by Emile Clouet (France)
128.5 x 94 cm

c1891 Cycles Rochet (France)

1891-95 Posters by Jules Chéret:

Jules Chéret (French, 1836–1932) was a renowned painter and lithographer.

Chéret was instrumental in the emergence of printers and poster designers in the late 1890s. He created the Maîtres de l’Affiche collection in 1895. This was a collection of reproductions from 97 Parisian artists, and the work inspired different artists, including Charles Gesmar. Chéret retired to Nice, France, when he was an old man. The French government awarded him the Légion d’honneur in 1890. He exhibited his work in different institutions, including the Louvre and the Salon, both in Paris. Chéret’s works are found in various institutions around the world, including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan; the Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

A series on the works of Jules Chéret can be found in the index of this blog.

1891 L'Etendard Français by Jules Chéret (France)

1895 Cycles Humber by Jules Chéret (France

Cleveland Cycles by Jules Chéret (France)

Manufacture de Bicyclettes by Jules Chéret (France)

1892-1901 Posters by Eugène Ogé:

Eugène Ogé (1861 Paris - 1936 Paris) was a French poster artist and illustrator. He began as an apprentice to Charles Verneau (1850-1950), a printer who specialised in posters, and became a lithographer. During this period he made the acquaintance of several notable poster artists, including Adolphe Léon Willette, Jean-Lois Forain and Théophile Alexandre Steinlein. In his spare time, he studied painting at the Académie Julian and developed an admiration for Jules Chéret , who was an innovator in poster design.