Musée d'Orsay, a major exhibition on the masters of the illustrated poster. It is the first in Paris on this scale

From March 18 to July 6, 2025, the Musée d’Orsay welcomes the exhibition L’art est dans la rue, curated by Élise Dubreuil, chief curator of Decorative Arts at the Musée d’Orsay; Sandrine Maillet, head of poster collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France; Anne-Marie Sauvage, general curator of the library; and Clémence Raynaud, chief curator of Architecture at the Musée d’Orsay. Produced in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the exhibition traces through an extraordinary collection of nearly 230 works the rise of the illustrated poster in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. Never before has the French capital dedicated such a major exhibition to this social and artistic phenomenon, bringing together such a significant number of masterpieces signed by the great masters of the poster: Bonnard, Chéret, Grasset, Mucha, Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec...

Designed as an immersive journey into the visual landscape of 19th-century Paris, the exhibition analyzes the golden age of the artistic poster and the social and cultural changes that fostered its evolution. It unfolds in dialogue with a unique collection of posters, paintings, photographs, costumes, sculptures and decorative art objects, evoking the effervescent vitality of turn-of-the-century urban life.

The street as a stage for art

In the social, cultural and artistic context of the time, the street takes on multiple roles: it is a place of life, an exhibition space and an object of representation. Between 1880 and 1900, the poster becomes a mirror of the fantasies and realities of a changing era. A product of technological progress and the emerging consumer society, it gradually established itself as a field of expression for some of the greatest artists of the time.

Jules Chéret, dubbed “the king of the poster” by the press, paved the way for a new generation of outstanding authors: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Eugène Grasset, Alphonse Mucha, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, and the Nabis-including Pierre Bonnard, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Edouard Vuillard, and Félix Vallotton-were celebrated as innovators of the genre. The modern poster quickly won over audiences and critics, who extolled both its visual impact and its ability to make art accessible to all. In parallel, these works begin to be appreciated not only as advertising tools but also as collectibles and exhibits. The poster craze spread among art collectors, while specialized dealers like Edmond Sagot started selling affiches, giving them a value comparable to that of art prints.

The poster as social expression

In the late nineteenth century, with the rising myth of the Belle Époque, the image of the street changed radically: from a space of social tensions and poverty it became the symbol of a world of pleasures, leisure and new consumer habits. Posters chronicle this transformation, immortalizing the growing popularity of cabarets, the rise of sports as a mass phenomenon, and theexaltation of femininity. Spread on the streets and visible to all, these posters embody the ideal of an “art for all,” accessible and democratic.

In parallel, anarchist and libertarian circles play a key role in introducing the first political images on walls and in public space. Initially linked to militant press publicity, these graphic representations evolved over time to become an incisive and visually striking communication tool. In the early 20th century, artists such as Jules Grandjouan experimented with a language designed to capture public attention in the urban context. This new form of expression, which broke with the intimate aesthetic of newspaper cartoons, would profoundly influence the development of the political poster in the following decades.

Musée d'Orsay, a major exhibition on the masters of the illustrated poster. It is the first in Paris on this scale

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