Vaas met toneel c. 1870 - 1894

This is Gustave Joseph Chéret's sketch of a vase, rendered with pencil and watercolor. Chéret was a lithographer and poster artist during the late 19th century, a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization in France. The art world at the time was heavily stratified, with painting and sculpture considered superior to the commercial applications of art. Notice how the sketch depicts not just a vase, but a scene within it. The theater depicted might represent the grand spectacle of Parisian life, yet contained within the domestic sphere. The artist seems to suggest a complex relationship with the world, one that speaks to the position of the commercial artist, straddling both the high and low. Cheret never adhered to traditional art education, which may have helped him to develop his own unique and accessible aesthetic. While the piece appears traditional in subject, the context of its creation as well as the artist's own background challenge that tradition, blurring the lines between art and commerce, spectacle and the home.