Affiche voor expositie H.G. Ibels in theater La Bodinière 1894

This is Henri-Gabriel Ibels's poster for his exhibition at the La Bodinière theater. The lithograph's composition is organized into distinct horizontal registers, each presenting a vignette of theatrical or performative scenes, rendered in muted greens, pinks, and grays. This subdued palette creates a strangely dissonant effect, given the implied energy of the stage. The figures are flattened, almost cartoonish, and the scenes lack depth, contributing to a sense of detachment. We see wrestlers, women in costume and dress, all delineated with thick lines and broad color fields. The graphic style and spatial compression reflect the influence of Japanese prints, challenging Western conventions of realism. Ibels destabilizes established notions of representation, emphasizing surface and pattern. The poster, in its formal construction, mirrors the avant-garde sensibility of the era, prioritizing graphic impact over narrative coherence. The artwork’s formal qualities are not merely aesthetic but also indicative of a broader shift in artistic and cultural values.