Artist
Georges Meunier
Georges Meunier prints bring the colour and bustle of Belle Époque Paris into your home. Meunier was a French poster artist, illustrator and painter who designed around fifty posters for dance halls, concerts, aperitifs, cigarette papers, railways and new inventions, mostly between 1894 and 1906....Read more
Georges Meunier prints bring the colour and bustle of Belle Époque Paris into your home. Meunier was a French poster artist, illustrator and painter who designed around fifty posters for dance halls, concerts, aperitifs, cigarette papers, railways and new inventions, mostly between 1894 and 1906. Our collection of fine art prints gathers his posters for the Bal Bullier, the Trianon concert hall, Lox, Job cigarette papers, the Musée Grévin and railway excursions to Normandy and Brittany.
About Georges Meunier
Joseph Henri Georges Meunier was born in Paris on 3 November 1869. He studied painting with William Bouguereau at the Académie Julian and worked as a draughtsman for the newspaper L'Écho de Versailles in 1889 and 1890. He made his start as a satirical illustrator for magazines such as Le Frou-frou, L'Assiette au Beurre and Le Rire.
His real fame came from posters. Working mainly for the Imprimerie Chaix in Paris, he produced a steady stream of advertisements from 1894 onwards, alongside colleagues such as René Péan and Lucien Lefèvre. The critic Alain Weill later called him the most talented of all Chéret's followers. Chéret himself reproduced five of Meunier's posters in Les Maîtres de l'affiche, his celebrated series of poster reproductions published between 1895 and 1900.
Meunier also illustrated books, including Émile Goudeau's Paris-Almanach of 1896, and later wrote several books of his own, among them a study of Joan of Arc with a preface by Maurice Barrès (1913). Like many poster artists, he largely stopped making posters with the First World War. He died on 11 February 1942 in Bois-d'Arcy, west of Paris. In 1978 the Bibliothèque Forney in Paris held a major retrospective of his work.
Style and Subjects
Meunier worked in the tradition of Jules Chéret: bright, flat colour, a lively drawn line, and cheerful young women who seem to dance across the sheet. His posters were meant to catch the eye of someone passing in the street, so the image is bold and the lettering big and clear.
His subjects are a snapshot of Paris in the 1890s: masked balls at the Bullier dance hall, the Trianon concert hall on the Boulevard Rochechouart, a water roller-coaster at the Jardin de Paris, aperitifs and cognac, gas heaters and shoe polish, cars and seaside excursions by train.
Famous Works
- Bullier. Bal masqué (1894). A poster for the masked balls of the Bal Bullier, one of the posters Alain Weill named among his best.
- L'Excellent consommé de viande de bœuf (1895). An advertisement for beef consommé, also counted among his finest posters.
- Lox, toni-apéritif par excellence (1895). A poster for a tonic aperitif, one of his best-known designs.
- Papier à cigarettes Job (1894). An advertisement for Job cigarette papers.
- À la Place Clichy. Étrennes (1896–1897). New Year gift posters for the Place Clichy department store, among his most admired works.
- Nansen au Pôle nord. Musée Grévin (1897). An advertisement for the Musée Grévin's waxwork show of the explorer Fridtjof Nansen.
- Folies-Bergère. Loïe Fuller (1898). A poster for the dancer Loïe Fuller at the Folies-Bergère.
Decorating with Meunier Prints
Meunier's posters bring a party atmosphere to any room. A dance-hall poster like Bullier or Trianon-Concert suits a living room, home bar or entertaining space, and the drink and food ads, such as Lox, are a natural fit for a kitchen, dining room or bar cart corner.
The railway posters, like Excursions en Normandie et Bretagne, suit a hallway or guest room, and the car and Mont-Blanc posters are a fun choice for a study or garage studio.
FAQ
Who was Georges Meunier?
Georges Meunier (1869–1942) was a French painter, engraver, illustrator and poster artist. He is best known for the colourful advertising posters he designed for the Imprimerie Chaix in Paris, mainly between 1894 and 1906.
What art movement was Georges Meunier part of?
He belonged to the Belle Époque poster movement led by Jules Chéret, which made the poster a popular art form in 1890s Paris. The critic Alain Weill called him the most talented of Chéret's followers.
What are Georges Meunier's most famous posters?
Alain Weill named Bullier, Lox, L'Excellent and the New Year posters for the Place Clichy store as his best. Chéret reproduced five of his posters in Les Maîtres de l'affiche.
Is this the same Georges Meunier as the racing cyclist?
No. The poster artist lived from 1869 to 1942; the French racing cyclist of the same name was born in 1925.
Related Artists
- Jules Chéret: the father of the modern poster, whose style Meunier followed
- René Péan: fellow poster artist at the Imprimerie Chaix
- Lucien Lefèvre: another of Meunier's colleagues at Chaix
- William Bouguereau: Meunier's painting teacher at the Académie Julian
