Anecdotal images
The public at large was highly appreciative of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s covers, with their anecdotal scenes in a realistic style. He designed almost two hundred of them — primarily for songs by politically engaged chansonniers, but also for light classical music.
It was Henri-Gabriel Ibels, however, who went on to become the most popular illustrator of song sheets. Some of his prints depict the song’s performer, with whom he was often friends, while others illustrate the content of the music using a wide range of types.
Sheet music was often printed on cheap paper, with advertisements for other compositions and blank spaces in which to insert the price of different versions of the same score.
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, Sheet music Les blanchisseuses by Achille Bloch and Louis Raynal, performed by Blondel and Marguerite Réjeane, 1893
Henri Gabriel Ibels, Sheet music Les bibis by Eugène Héros and Léopold Gangloff, performed by Mévisto, 1892
Experimentation
Alongside commercial illustrations, there were small-scale initiatives of a modern and experimental character by the artists themselves.
The best of these were the music books Pierre Bonnard made with his brother-in-law, the composer Claude Terrasse.
Bonnard’s prints for Petites scènes familières translate the emotion and rhythm of the music into intimate domestic scenes, built up through the decorative play of undulating lines.
Pierre Bonnard, Papa, Mama (Papa, maman) from the series Petites scènes familières, 1893
Further reading
- Gale B. Murray, ‘Music Illustration in the Circle of Bonnard: From Naturalism to Symbolism’, in Phillip Dennis Cate et al., Prints abound: Paris in the 1890s, Washington/London 2000
- Gérard Millot, ‘Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Nabi Illustrator of Songs: A Catalogue Raisonné of his Music Sheets’, Zimmerli Journal (2005), no. 3, pp. 198-215