The Graphic Arts and French Society, 1871-1914

The formative years of the Third Republic of France were marked by rapid, techinal advances in lithographic and photomechanical printing, combined with a relaxation of press censorship. The convergence of these two forces allowed the graphic arts - journal and book illustrations, posters and prints, and related drawings and watercolours - to play a larger role in artistic production than ever before. Drawing on the collection of French graphic arts in the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, the contributors to this book reach beyond the surface of the art to bring the reader a greater understanding of fin-de-siecle France.