In the 21st century, it is all too common to see the bright colors and larger-than-life images that make up modern advertising. But before there was the Internet, television and even radio, advertising must have been very different. Or was it?

        The Cincinnati Art Museum traces the history of selling products by displaying 61 of the earliest examples of advertising in Posters of the Belle Epoque: Toulouse-Lautrec to Mucha, through Jan. 6.

        It shows us that sex and pretty women always have been used to sell everything from cigarettes to bicycles; bold colors and simple designs never go out of fashion; and collecting posters is popular once again.

        The works in Posters of the Belle Epoque come from the museum's collection, complemented by works from the Detroit Institute of Art and several private collectors. They shed light on how print advertising has developed from its infancy.

        According to Kristin L. Spangenberg, the CAM's curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, even the casual observer can see how today's advertising still uses many of the elements of these early examples.

Brief 19th century moment
        During the golden age, or belle epoque, in Paris and other European cities in the late 19th century, the middle class was growing steadily because of the booming economy brought on by the industrial age.

IF YOU GO

What: Posters of the Belle Epoque: Toulouse-Lautrec to Mucha     Where: Cincinnati Art Museum's Thomas R. Schiff Galleries     When: Through Jan. 6     Museum admission: $5, $4 senior citizens and college students, free for ages 17 and under and free to all on Saturday.     Information: (513) 721-2787 and www.cincinnatiARTmuseum.org

        Many in this new middle class had for the first time discretionary income for goods and services. They were captured as consumers by the advent of brightly colored billboards and street kiosks, advertising everything from confetti and magic shows to cigarettes and rice powder.

        Although posters were popular during the belle epoque, the enthusiasm did not last beyond the turn of the century. When Albert P. Strietmann began collecting posters for CAM in the 1940s and '50s, he acquired works on paper designed by renowned artists of the late 1800s, including Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre Bonnard.

        Says Ms. Spangenberg: Mr. Strietmann bought posters not for the value of the poster itself, which was not much at the time, but because they were done by famous artists. The posters served as complements to their better-known works.

        Posters are again capturing the fascination of collectors and art patrons. Although the museum has collected posters since the 1940s, until now the works have not been on public view. This is only the second poster show the CAM has done; the first was to display European works.

        “Today we are willing to appreciate good graphic design,” Ms. Spangenberg says.

Sex was the sell
        The Mucha girls — the beautiful women with long flowing hair that are the focus of many Alphonse Mucha works — serve as a reminder that even in the early days of print advertising, sex was used to sell products.

        Mucha's posters are favorites of collector Dr. James Marrs, a Cincinnati dermatologist and lender to the exhibition.

        “It is the sensuality of the long flowing hair and curved lines that come together. He represented the epitome of art nouveau,” Dr. Marrs says. He loaned two works by Toulouse-Lautrec and an 1888 poster by Jules Cheret, which is the earliest work in the show.

        Cheret, considered to be the father of the poster, designed some of the earliest posters in Europe and developed the art and the science behind the production of posters.

        “Cheret really took lithography from just a two-color process into the three- and four-color advertising process,” says local collector and dealer Jack Wood.

        He says Cheret was as saavy in business as he was in art, going to companies in Paris to convince them to advertise using these new large-scale lithographs. He was so successful that he was eventually able to buy the print house that produced his posters.

        While Mucha and Cheret were using images of pretty women to sell products, artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Bonnard were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, using bold colors and more simple designs.

Wide range of posters
        Lesser known artists abound as well in this exhibition, with a wide variety of products and events being advertised, including cabaret shows, hallucinogenic drinks, books and magazines — even mortuary crowns.

        Recognizable images include an ad for the Moulin Rouge by Toulouse-Latrec, a poster by Mucha for actress Sarah Bernhardt's American tour, and an image of Houdini in his water torture cell by an unknown artist.

        “I designed the show to give the audience a broader experience on this period,” Ms. Spangenberg says.

        Often this meant revealing more about the posters than just the products they advertise. Many of the works have the markings of a French tax stamp, showing that the company paid to have the poster publicly displayed in Paris.

        Some of the posters were also so large that they had to be created in several sections, then put together for the display, indicative of the technological limitations of the period.

        Because these posters were originally printed to be temporarily displayed and seen from a distance, the paper they were printed on was often low-quality. Even with some of the pieces having gone through conservation, it is a wonder these posters have survived this long and can be appreciated today, Ms. Spangenberg says.

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