Prenez Des Pastilles Geraudel 1891

Curator: This is Jules Chéret's "Prenez Des Pastilles Geraudel," a lithograph from 1891. What strikes you first about this image? Editor: It's playful! The composition is really striking. The cascading text, the way the pills spill out...it's all very dynamic. Curator: Chéret was a master of poster design, deeply involved in the production processes himself. This piece reflects the booming pharmaceutical industry of the late 19th century, making medicine accessible through mass advertising. Editor: You can definitely see the art nouveau influence in the swirling lines and decorative elements. The woman’s pose, the fluid design of the bottle, all speak to that aesthetic. It has such an optimistic style. It's hard to imagine it's an advert for medicine. Curator: Indeed, Chéret deliberately created posters that blurred the lines between commercial art and fine art, challenging the existing hierarchy. Notice how his printing process, using lithography, allowed him to experiment with color in a revolutionary way. He transformed advertising through materiality and large-scale production. Editor: And the colour palette—it’s so lively! It almost makes you forget the subject matter is cough drops. But what do you think the colour is communicating, besides happiness and hopefulness? Curator: I think the warm oranges and yellows, coupled with that strange pear-shaped bottle, emphasize the 'cure', using vibrant images as almost a placebo effect in the ad. I think people would believe it would improve the condition of their sore throats. It’s all about creating a desire through accessible means, driven by new technologies in the arts, and an exciting burgeoning market. Editor: Yes. The way the image and the brand combine is fascinating. It really brings to the surface this shift towards visual branding, and a mass consumption that the medicine, too, symbolizes. It is far removed from medical illustration with an immediate impact of design. Curator: Considering its context, it's really exciting to see how both fine art, material culture, and commodity converge. Editor: Absolutely. It's a surprisingly insightful image.