#Léon Choubrac

[the-paintrist]

Léon Choubrac - Alcazar d'Hiver - 1882

Léon Choubrac (17 November 1847 – 5 April 1885), who sometimes signed his drawings with Hope, was a French poster designer and illustrator based in Paris.

With his younger brother Alfred Choubrac, Léon was trained as a classical artist with the painters Charles Doërr and Isidore Pils at the École des Beaux Arts. The Choubrac brothers came very soon to the poster, practicing since 1875 the modern treatment of colors and typography, associated with images thanks to chromolithography.

In the early 1870s, the Choubrac brothers and Jules Chéret (known as "the father of the modern poster") reduced the cost of colour lithography introducing technical advances. Additionally, in 1881 restrictions on bill-posting (affichage) were lifted and eased state control of the media in France. In 1884, the Paris city council started to rent out surfaces belonging to the municipality, paving the way for a rapid increase in the production and distribution of advertising posters. Posters with clear colours and dashing images appeared all over town during the vibrant spirit of the Belle Époque.

Léon Choubrac drew some posters that higher authorities seized or torn down, amongst others one that showed a woman tortured in the presence of the Pope. Another poster, The secret loves of Pius IX, showed the portrait of Pope Pius IX below a series of portraits with heads of young women. The censor made him add a beard to the head of the Pope to disguise it. The poster nevertheless caused a scandal and was torn down by order of the French Minister of the Interior François Allain-Targé.

Léon and Alfred created the Ateliers Choubrac. As an illustrator, he sometimes collaborated with his brother in Gil Blas or the satirical weekly Le Courrier français, among others. Choubrac illustrated several works by Emile Zola. Although Leon died young (1885), his brother Alfred went on to produce an impressive number of posters for Parisian entertainers, theatres, businesses and various commercial products.

The poster collector Ernest Maindron, who wrote the first essay about the illustrated poster in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1884, and later published the first book on the subject (Les Affiches Illustrees) in 1886, mentioned the Choubrac brothers, along with and Chéret, among the pioneers of the illustrated poster.

[the-paintrist]

Léon Choubrac (17 November 1847 – 5 April 1885), who sometimes signed his drawings with Hope, was a French poster designer and illustrator based in Paris.

With his younger brother Alfred Choubrac, Léon was trained as a classical artist with the painters Charles Doërr and Isidore Pils at the École des Beaux Arts. The Choubrac brothers came very soon to the poster, practicing since 1875 the modern treatment of colors and typography, associated with images thanks to chromolithography.

Cycles Humber par Léon Choubrac, 1885.

[rfsnyder]

cycle art ads Léon Choubrac,

[m2-km]

Paris-Commune-Related Work for Commune Week 2023

Léon Choubrac, Le Dernier Jour de la Commune (1883).

Seeing that my post from last year (thank you, @paperandsong) has gained a little attention, I am compiling the works I have written to commemorate the Paris Commune in this post. These are not explicitly POTO-related, but no knowledge of the fandom I'm writing in is required to read them. The franchise (Senjyuushi) personifies various firearms, and I write about historical firearms related to the Franco-German War and the Commune during the Commune. The franchise does not deal with this context, and all the firearms I write about are original characters. If you're interested in the historical context of the Commune, or learning various facts about it, you can read my Madder Skies series:

Une fête cerise - The Commune as witnessed by a Tabatière rifle. (He is affectionately named Ignace for his fiery nature.) Themes: women of the Commune, disillusion, hope. A lot of unsaid affection.

Allons enfants de la patrie - The Commune from the eyes of a Chassepot rifle named Florence, owned by a child Communard. Themes: children, war horrors, innocence, bathos, propaganda. Erik makes a cameo! The second chapter contains historical notes on the Commune.

Beyond Madder Skies - The centrepiece of the series. A Chassepot rifle from the Versailles army finds himself stranded behind German forces that are observing the repression of the Commune. He acquaints himself with a Dreyse needle rifle (from Prussia), and they re-negotiate their relationship as enemies as the Chassepot fights to return to his comrades. Each chapter covers a day in the final week of the Commune.

I would love to put out new work related to the Commune, POTO, or Madder Skies this year, hopefully before Commune Week ends. Stay tuned...

[amandi-mga2023mi6011]

Research: History of Posters

Posters have existed for a long time in human history; initially appearing as advertisements and announcements in the form of placards and posted bills. They were also used in the form of a block of text. e.g.: announcement/advertisement for Shakespeare's plays.

Lithography was invented in 1796 by Alois Senefelder. This was soon followed by the creation of chromolithiography

A century later (1890s) chromolithography had spread to the rest of Europe. France especially had a number of prolific poster artists which included  Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret, Eugène Grasset, Adolphe Willette, Pierre Bonnard, Louis Anquetin, the brothers Léon and Alfred Choubrac, Georges de Feure, and Henri-Gabriel Ibels.

Jules Chéret in particular was a renowned pencil artist and scene decorator, who established a small lithography office in Paris in 1866. He made use of striking characters, bold contrasts, and vibrant colors in advertising posters, creating over 1,000 captivating designs for exhibitions, theaters, and various products. His innovative approach attracted numerous aspiring painters, providing a valuable source of income for the burgeoning artistic community.

Chéret revolutionised the art of lithography, developing new techniques that enabled the use of richer, more expressive colors. It was known as Cheret's 3-stone lithographic process. This innovation, combined with his pioneering use of the female form as an advertising tool, though controversial, contributed significantly to the burgeoning popularity of posters. The accessibility and commercial success of posters attracted the attention of fine artists, who increasingly embraced this medium. This growing popularity culminated in a major exhibition of posters held in Paris in 1884, solidifying their place in popular culture.

The emergence of the modern poster can be attributed to several key factors. Firstly, advancements in printing technology, particularly the refinement of color lithography, enabled the mass production of large, high-quality images at an affordable cost. Secondly, the relaxation of government censorship in countries like France allowed for greater freedom of expression in public spaces. Finally, the rise of mass consumerism fueled a growing demand for effective advertising, prompting businesses to seek innovative ways to reach larger audiences. These converging factors laid the groundwork for the development of the modern poster designs that we recognise today.

1890 -1900: The Golden Age and Art Nouveau

In 1891, Toulouse-Lautrec's groundbreaking poster for the Moulin Rouge elevated the medium of poster design to the realm of fine art, igniting a widespread poster craze. The 1890s, known as the Belle Époque in France, witnessed a flourishing of poster culture, with exhibitions, magazines, and art dealers dedicated to this burgeoning art form.

In 1894, Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist working in Paris, created a groundbreaking poster that is considered the first masterpiece of Art Nouveau. Drawing inspiration from various sources, including the Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Byzantine art, this distinctive style, characterized by its flowing lines, organic forms, and decorative motifs, quickly gained international prominence and dominated decorative arts until the outbreak of World War I.

Artists like Théophile Steinlen, Albert Guillaume, Leonetto Cappiello, and Henri Thiriet further expanded the boundaries of poster art, contributing to its growing influence. These talented individuals not only created captivating advertisements but also used posters as a powerful medium for social and political commentary.

Posters emerged as a powerful reflection of each nation's unique cultural identity. In France, they celebrated the vibrant cafe and cabaret culture. Italy embraced the drama of opera and the elegance of fashion, while Spain showcased the passion of bullfighting and the vibrancy of its festivals. Germany championed trade fairs and magazines, while Britain and America celebrated literary journals, the rise of cycling, and the spectacle of the circus.

Despite this cross-cultural exchange, distinct national styles emerged. Dutch posters were characterized by their restraint and orderliness, Italian posters by their dramatic flair and grand scale, and German posters by their directness and often medieval-inspired aesthetic.

1900 - 1914: The Death of Art Nouveau

By the turn of the 20th century, Art Nouveau, despite its initial vibrancy, began to feel stale, its elegant curves and intricate flourishes losing their novelty through over-repetition. The passing of Toulouse-Lautrec in 1901 and the departure of key figures like Mucha and Chéret from the field of poster design further shook the movement.

Into this artistic vacuum stepped Leonetto Cappiello, an Italian caricaturist who arrived in Paris in 1898. Rejecting the ornate excesses of Art Nouveau, Cappiello introduced a bold new aesthetic. His posters, characterised by simple, impactful imagery, often infused with humor or a touch of the bizarre, immediately captivated the public. This focus on visual impact and the creation of instantly recognisable brand identities solidified Cappiello's position as a pioneer of modern advertising. His influence would dominate Parisian poster design for years to come, until the emergence of the Art Deco movement in the 1920s.

Meanwhile, a significant shift was underway in other parts of Europe. Artists in Scotland, Austria, and Germany, dissatisfied with the increasingly formulaic nature of Art Nouveau, began to explore alternative approaches. They rejected the flowing curves and organic forms of Art Nouveau in favor of a more rectilinear and geometric aesthetic, emphasising functionality and a return to simpler forms.

This movement culminated in the emergence of German Plakatstil, a bold new style championed by artists like Lucian Bernhard and Ludwig Hohlwein. Characterised by simplified naturalism, flat colors, and bold shapes, Plakatstil laid the groundwork for a more abstract and modern visual language, paving the way for future developments in graphic design.

1914 - 1919: World War I

World War I transformed the poster from a commercial tool into a potent weapon of propaganda. The conflict ignited the largest advertising campaign in history, as governments desperately sought to mobilize public support. From rallying citizens to enlist and contribute to war bonds to fueling outrage against enemy atrocities and boosting industrial production, posters became indispensable tools for wartime communication.

The United States, for example, produced an astonishing 2,500 unique poster designs and an estimated 20 million individual posters – a staggering number, amounting to nearly one poster for every four citizens. This massive output demonstrates the critical role that posters played in shaping public opinion and mobilizing national support during the war.

1919 - 1938: Modernism and Art Deco

The end of WW1 ushered in the modern art movements of  Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, and Dadaism, which heavily influenced poster design.

The emergence of formal graphic design education in France, Germany, and Switzerland marked a pivotal shift, elevating the field beyond mere illustration and firmly establishing it as a distinct discipline within advertising. This evolution rapidly influenced the Soviet Union, where the Constructivist movement embraced art as a tool for social and political change.

Constructivist artists, including El Lissitsky, Rodchenko, Klutsis, and the Stenberg Brothers, developed a dynamic "agitational" style characterised by bold diagonals, dynamic photomontage, and jarring color schemes. This revolutionary aesthetic, with its emphasis on bold forms and social impact, exerted a profound influence on Western poster design, particularly through the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements.

By the mid-1920s, these diverse modernist influences began to coalesce, culminating in the rise of Art Deco. This "machine age" style celebrated speed, power, and technological advancement, characterised by streamlined shapes, simplified forms, and a rejection of the flowing curves of Art Nouveau in favor of sleek, angular typography. While distinctly modern, Art Deco also incorporated elements from 'exotic' cultures, drawing inspiration from the arts of Persia, Egypt, and Africa.

The 1925 Decorative Arts Exposition in Paris served as a showcase for this burgeoning movement. Replacing the caricature-driven style of Cappiello, artist A. M. Cassandre introduced a more geometric and intellectual approach, utilising airbrush techniques to create sleek, machine-like imagery. His iconic posters for luxury ocean liners like the Normandie, Statendam, and Atlantique became powerful symbols of the industrial age.

Art Deco, like its predecessor Art Nouveau, quickly spread across Europe and to the United States, solidifying its position as a dominant force in the world of graphic design.

1939 - 1950: The End of Stone Lithography

With WW2, posters once again became a tool for propaganda. By this time, most posters were being made using photo offset. However, the poster played a less pivotal role in the war this time around; mainly due to the rise of radio and print, which proved to be more useful modes of communication with the general public. Furthermore, the rise of television posed a serious challenge to the poster industry after World War II, leading to a decline in its prominence as an advertising medium.

1950 - 1965: Resurgence

With the end of WWII, the world entered a period of optimism and technological advancement. The early 1950s witnessed a resurgence of poster advertising, giving rise to two distinct aesthetic approaches. The '50s Style' embraced vibrant colors and whimsical imagery, appealing to consumer desires. In contrast, the International Typographic Style prioritised rationality and order, emphasising clean lines and functional design.

1965 - 1972: Modernism and the Civil Rights Movements

The 1960s, an era of social and political upheaval, saw a introduction of pop art. Both the vibrant aesthetic of pop art and the urgent messages of protest movements effectively utilised the poster as a powerful medium for communication and social change.

The excesses of the drug culture and political alienation led to a brief but spectacular Psychedelic Poster craze in the U.S., which recalled the floral excesses of Art Nouveau, the pulsating afterimages of Op-Art, and the bizarre juxtapositions of Surrealism. And the French May Day protests generated a school of propaganda poster that harked back to the Soviet poster and cartoon art.

1970 - 1989:  Post-Modernism

The International Style spread beyond Switzerland rapidly and became the leading graphic design style worldwide in the Seventies. By the early Eighties, the style began to give way to the Post Modernists, who sought to break the formal and dogmatic rules of the Swiss Style.

A young teacher in Basel named Wolfgang Weingart led the palace revolt which ushered in today's predominant graphic style loosely known as Post Modern design. Weingart experimented with the offset printing process to produce posters that appeared complex and chaotic, playful and spontaneous - all in stark contrast to his elders' teachings. Weingart's liberation of typography was an important foundation for several new styles, from Memphis and Retro, to the advances now being made in computer graphics.

[the-paintrist]

Léon Choubrac (17 November 1847 – 5 April 1885), who sometimes signed his drawings with Hope, was a French poster designer and illustrator based in Paris.

The Paris Commune (French: Commune de Paris) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended Paris, and working-class radicalism grew among its soldiers. Following the establishment of the Third Republic in September 1870 (under French chief executive Adolphe Thiers from February 1871) and the complete defeat of the French Army by the Germans by March 1871, soldiers of the National Guard seized control of the city on March 18. They killed two French army generals and refused to accept the authority of the Third Republic, instead attempting to establish an independent government.

The Commune governed Paris for two months, establishing policies that tended toward a progressive, anti-religious system of their own self-styled socialism, which was an eclectic mix of many 19th-century schools. These policies included the separation of church and state, self-policing, the remission of rent, the abolition of child labor, and the right of employees to take over an enterprise deserted by its owner. All Roman Catholic churches and schools were closed. Feminist, socialist, communist, old style social democracy (which was a mix of reformism and revolutionism) and anarchist currents played important roles in the Commune.

However, the various Communards had little more than two months to achieve their respective goals before the national French Army suppressed the Commune at the end of May during La semaine sanglante ("The Bloody Week") beginning on 21 May 1871. The national forces killed in battle or quickly executed an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Communards, though one unconfirmed estimate from 1876 put the toll as high as 20,000. In its final days, the Commune executed the Archbishop of Paris, Georges Darboy, and about one hundred hostages, mostly gendarmes and priests. 43,522 Communards were taken prisoner, including 1,054 women. More than half were quickly released. Fifteen thousand were tried, 13,500 of whom were found guilty. Ninety-five were sentenced to death, 251 to forced labor, and 1,169 to deportation (mostly to New Caledonia). Thousands of other Commune members, including several of the leaders, fled abroad, mostly to England, Belgium and Switzerland. All the prisoners and exiles received pardons in 1880 and could return home, where some resumed political careers.

Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), who described it as the first example of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Engels wrote: "Of late, the Social-Democratic philistine has once more been filled with wholesome terror at the words: Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Well and good, gentlemen, do you want to know what this dictatorship looks like? Look at the Paris Commune. That was the Dictatorship of the Proletariat."

👁 Le Dernier Jour de la Commune de Paris 1871 - Grand Panorama, Léon Choubrac-Hope (1883)

#cartell #cartellisme #poster #advert #affiche #manifesto #cartellone #art #LéonChoubrac (at France) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ULrOYB4AI/?igshid=dsjt2bek4mzb

[the-paintrist]

Léon Choubrac - Advertisement for the serialization of "Germinal" by Emile Zola in the magazine "Gil Blas" on 25 November 1884.

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (; 2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, political activist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in his renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse…!  Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.

Germinal is the thirteenth novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. Often considered Zola's masterpiece and one of the most significant novels in the French tradition, the novel – an uncompromisingly harsh and realistic story of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s – has been published and translated in over one hundred countries. It has also inspired five film adaptations and two television productions.

Germinal was written between April 1884 and January 1885. It was first serialized between November 1884 and February 1885 in the periodical Gil Blas, then in March 1885 published as a book.

The title refers to the name of a month of the French Republican Calendar, a spring month. Germen is a Latin word which means "seed"; the novel describes the hope for a better future that seeds amongst the miners. As the final lines of the novel read:

Des hommes poussaient, une armée noire, vengeresse, qui germait lentement dans les sillons, grandissant pour les récoltes du siècle futur, et dont la germination allait faire bientôt éclater la terre. Men were springing forth, a black avenging army, germinating slowly in the furrows, growing towards the harvests of the next century, and their germination would soon overturn the earth. — 1885 translation[

Gil Blas (or Le Gil Blas) was a Parisian literary periodical named for Alain-René Lesage's novel Gil Blas. It was founded by the sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont in November 1879.

Gil Blas serialized novels, such as Émile Zola's Germinal (1884) and L'Œuvre (1885), before they appeared in book form. Numerous Guy de Maupassant short stories debuted in Gil Blas. The journal was also known for its opinionated arts and theatre criticism. Contributors included René Blum, Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești, and Abel Hermant. Théophile Steinlen and Albert Guillaume provided illustrations.

Gil Blas was published regularly until 1914, when there was a short hiatus due to the outbreak of World War I. Afterwards, it was published intermittently until 1938.

In addition to Germinal, Gil Blas serialized the Zola novels L'Argent, Au Bonheur des Dames, and La Joie de vivre.

Gil Blas critic Louis Vauxcelles's phrase "Donatello chez les fauves" ("Donatello among the wild beasts") brought notoriety and attention to the works of Henri Matisse and Les Fauves exhibited at the Salon d'Automne of 1905. Vauxcelles' comment was printed on 17 October 1905[4] and passed into popular usage.

[the-paintrist]

Jules Chéret (31 May 1836 – 23 September 1932) was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of Belle Époque poster art. He has been called the father of the modern poster.

According to the poster collector Ernest Maindron, who wrote the first essay about the illustrated poster in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1884, and later published the first book on the subject (Les Affiches Illustrees) in 1886, Chéret, along with the brothers Léon and Alfred Choubrac, was among the pioneers of the illustrated poster. In the early 1870s, Chéret and the Choubrac brothers reduced the cost of colour lithography introducing technical advances.

The Exposition Universelle of 1889, better known in English as the 1889 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fifth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The most famous structure created for the exposition, and still remaining, is the Eiffel Tower.

Le Pays Des Fees by Jules Chéret, 1899

[publicite-francaise]

Crème Liebig - Goutez-moi ça ! par Léon Choubrac, 1885.

[miquisteps]

Le Dernier Jour de la Commune de Paris 1871 - Grand Panorama, Léon Choubrac-Hope (1883)

[publicite-francaise]

Cycles Humber par Léon Choubrac, 1885.

[the-paintrist]

Alfred Choubrac (30 December 1853 – 25 July 1902) was a French painter, illustrator, draughtsman, poster artist and costume designer. Together with Jules Chéret he is considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern coloured and illustrated poster of the Belle Époque in France, in particular in Paris.

The 1880s and 1890s were an intermediary period in the development of the poster in which its primary political function shifted to a primarily promotional one as advertising in the emerging consumer economy, often, if not primarily, through the commoditisation of female sexuality. In April 1891, under orders from the Minister of the Interior, the prefect of Paris, Henri-Auguste Lozé, seized and destroyed hundreds of posters considered to be a violation of public decency. Many artists and their printers were charged. Several of Choubrac's posters were prohibited and he was brought to court along with the printers.

One of the censored posters advertised the performance of the dancer Ilka de Mynn at the Folies Bergère, who was depicted in a maillot (body stocking), which, according to the court that charged Choubrac was a cause for concern because the model appeared to be nude. Another poster was an advertisement for the French magazine Fin de Siècle, which showed a scarcely dressed female dancer. In an interview with La Presse, Choubrac said he was astonished by the upheaval, claiming that "nudity is exposed everywhere and in much more provocative ways; and I frankly confess that I do not see where the evil was, I sought to make a work of art and nothing more."

In later life he became also known for his designs of stage costumes for the theatre. Choubrac illustrated several books of the novelist Emile Zola. He produced a number of posters for bookstores to promote popular works. He also produced commercial posters for brands such as the Muscovite Digestive, Humber Cycles, Beeston Tire, Naigeon Gold Water, Unbreakable Baleinine Corsets, Mokatine, Decauville cycles, Burgeatine Liqueur, and the Hippodrome of Saint-Ponchon, among others.

As an illustrator, he sometimes collaborated with his brother Léon in Gil Blas or the satirical weekly Le Courrier français, among others. The first poster exhibition in France occurred in 1884 in the Passage Vivienne in Paris and included American as well as French posters with specific representation of the work of Cheret and the two Choubrac brothers. The New York Grolier Club in November 1890 organised an exhibition of prints of the "masters in the newest art", that of bill posting, including Choubrac, Chéret, Willette and Eugène Grasset.

The poster collector Ernest Maindron, who wrote the first essay about the illustrated poster in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts in 1884, and later published the first book on the subject (Les Affiches Illustrees) in 1886, mentioned the Choubrac brothers and Chéret among the pioneers of the illustrated poster. Maindron praised Choubrac's bold line, sense of composition and highly decorative skills. According to Maindron, in his subsequent book Les Affiches Illustrees (1886–1895) published in 1896, Choubrac must have drawn more than four hundred posters for theatres, novels and industry products, before he switched his attention to the design of theatrical costumes, in which he was equally successful.

Alfred Choubrac died on 25 July 1902 from a cold gone bad.

CHOUBRAC, Alfred. Francine Decroza des Théâtres de Paris, c. 1894. by Halloween HJB

[miquisteps]

👁 Le Dernier Jour de la Commune de Paris 1871 - Grand Panorama, Léon Choubrac-Hope (1883) #cartell #cartellisme #poster #advert #affiche #manifesto #cartellone #art #LéonChoubrac (at France) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ULrOYB4AI/?igshid=dsjt2bek4mzb

[the-paintrist]

Alfred Choubrac (30 December 1853 – 25 July 1902) was a French painter, illustrator, draughtsman, poster artist and costume designer. Together with Jules Chéret he is considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern coloured and illustrated poster of the Belle Époque in France, in particular in Paris.

Alfred Choubrac was born in Montmartre (Paris). With his elder brother Léon Choubrac (1847–1885), Alfred was trained as a classical artist at the École des Beaux Arts by the painters Charles Doërr and Isidore Pils. The Choubrac brothers began making posters very early in their career; from 1875, they applied modern colour and typographic techniques, combined with graphics, using chromolithography.

In the early 1870s, the Choubrac brothers and Jules Chéret (known as "the father of the modern poster") reduced the cost of colour lithography introducing technical advances and the colour poster gained significance as an attractive means of promotion and advertisements. Additionally, in 1881 restrictions on bill-posting (affichage) were lifted and eased state control of the media in France. In 1884, the Paris city council started to rent out space belonging to the municipality, paving the way for a rapid increase in the production and distribution of advertising posters. Posters with clear colours and dashing images appeared all over town during the vibrant spirit of the Belle Époque.

The Choubracs worked mainly with the printing company F. Appel. Later, Léon and Alfred created the Ateliers Choubrac, one of the first graphic design agencies in Paris, originally hosted by the printing press G. Massias at the 17 passage Daudin, using a lithographic press. Around 1898, the name of the Atelier was associated with the name of Imprimerie Bourgerie & Cie, at 83 rue du Faubourg, St Denis in Paris.[6] Although his brother Leon died young, Alfred went on to produce an impressive number of posters for Parisian entertainers, theatres, businesses and various commercial products.

Alfred Choubrac specialized in posters for shows in the Parisian night-life scene of the Belle Époque, for theatres such as the Théâtre des Variétés, Théâtre du Châtelet, Folies Bergère, Opéra comique, Moulin rouge, Casino de Paris, the Eldorado, the Circus Fernando. Along with Chéret and Toulouse-Lautrec, amongst others, Choubrac was among the most important poster artist of his time. His most famous poster is Au Joyeux Moulin Rouge to promote the famous nightclub.

Alfred Choubrac (French, 1853–1902)

Scheherazade and the sultan,  1878

oil on canvas, 131 x 90 cm

© MutualArt  

[the-paintrist]

Léon Choubrac (17 November 1847 – 5 April 1885), who sometimes signed his drawings with Hope, was a French poster designer and illustrator based in Paris.

Crème Liebig - Goutez-moi ça ! par Léon Choubrac, 1885.