Le Grand Siècle de l’Affiche · Les Maîtres de l’Affiche
Maîtres de l'Affiche, Vol. 2, Plate 63 — Beggarstaffs
Beggarstaffs (James Pryde and William Nicholson) · Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, vol. 2 (Imprimerie Chaix, Paris), 1895
What it is
A lithographic advertising poster by the Beggarstaffs — the English partnership of James Pryde and William Nicholson — printed by Imprimerie Chaix in 1895 as Plate 63 of Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, volume 2.
Why it matters
The Beggarstaffs built their designs by cutting shapes from coloured paper and shifting them until the composition held, which is why their work reads as blunt silhouette against empty ground rather than drawn line. That reductive method made them the outliers in a Paris portfolio series otherwise full of French decorative flourish. Chaix's Maîtres series reissued celebrated posters at collector's size, and this plate carried the English pair's spare method into the heart of Belle Époque taste.
What to notice
Look at how much of the sheet is left empty — the figure is carried by flat silhouette and blank ground, not by outline or shading.
Take everything away, and what remains has to carry the whole thing.
Provenance
- School
- Belle Époque — the Affiche (France)
- Designer
- Beggarstaffs (James Pryde and William Nicholson)
- Printer / house
- Imprimerie Chaix
- Format
- Advertising poster
- Poster published
- Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, vol. 2 (Imprimerie Chaix, Paris), 1895
- Source
- Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 27x41" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
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