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The Belle Epoque Vintage Poster Era came to fruition with the invention of the three-stone lithographic process by Jules Cheret (1836-1932/France) in the 1870s in Paris, achieving its height in the 1890s, with what was called the "Poster Craze". Cheret's process allowed representing an infinite rainbow of colors, using only three stones.
The Belle Epoque era, according to the conventional view, began with the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 came to a close with the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the Franco-Prussian War, German breech-loading steel cannon decisively defeated French muzzle-loading bronze cannon. Advancemnts in steel production caused a revolution not just in warfare, but also in transportation, leading to the mass production of railroads, steamships, streetcars, subways, bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles, all of which figure prominently in Belle Epoque poster art.
Urbanization resulted in a cultural transformation, from a "court society" of noble elites to a "cafe society" of an increasingly urban bourgeoisie and proletariat, consuming an explosion of commercial products and entertainmeents, including branded liqueurs, fashion, coffees, tea, cosmetics, perfumes, dime novels, magazines, revues, early films, cafes, restaurants, art galleries, halls, theatres, and department stores, as well as advertising posters.
Other principal Belle Epoque poster designers included Adolfo Hohenstein (1854-1928, Germany-Italy), Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939, Czech Republic), Jean de Paleologue (1860-1942, Romania-France), Ludwig Hohlwein (1874-1949, Germany), and Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942, Italy).
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