Etrennes are New Year gifts, and here they tumble across the foot of the sheet: a hobby horse, a tambourine, a rattle and wrapped toys. Jules Chéret (1836 to 1932) designed the poster in 1905 for the Paris department store Au Printemps, to advertise its Etrennes season. Au Printemps was founded in 1865 by Jules Jaluzot.
Chéret's own print shop became a branch of Imprimerie Chaix in 1881, and he worked there as artistic director. He received the Légion d'honneur in 1890.
On the poster
A Harlequin in olive-green and orange leaps across the foreground, arms flung wide, beside a golden-haired Cherette in a saturated red dress. To her right a smaller commedia dell'arte figure in white and yellow holds flowers. A child's face peers from behind a burst of yellow foliage, and a tiny red jester juggles in the upper corner. Behind the figures, a graduated slate-blue wash bleeds into the cream ground.
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.

