Postcard Jules Chéret La Diaphane Sarah Bernhardt Hazan

Postcard with a colour reproduction of the poster La Diaphane, Poudre de Riz Sarah Bernhardt by Jules Chéret from 1890, published by Fernand Hazan in Paris under number 1140 and probably issued between 1960 and 1975. The reverse carries the inscription Reproduction réservée Fernand Hazan, éditeur, Paris together with the bilingual caption in French and English. The card is unused and in good condition.

Jules Chéret (1836-1932) is regarded as the father of the modern advertising poster: through his large colour lithographs he turned the streets of Paris into open-air galleries and his name became synonymous with the Belle Époque. The poster for La Diaphane was commissioned by the perfumery at 32, Avenue de l'Opéra, which had linked Sarah Bernhardt to its rice powder. The actress, then at the height of her international fame, appears here not as a literal portrait but as a glittering apparition with bright orange hair, a red dress and a white boa, holding the powder case. Chéret signed and dated 90 in the lower left; the monogram DMC of the La Diaphane brand appears in the upper right. The original poster was printed by the Imprimerie Chaix, Ateliers Chéret, at 20 rue Bergère in Paris. This Hazan reproduction belongs to the well-known post-war series of art poster postcards the Parisian publisher produced for museum shops and art enthusiasts.