Paul Berthon
Paul Berthon was a French designer and artist lithographer who lived from 1872 to 1934. He is most known for his lithograph advertisements. Many regard Berthon as one of the central artists within the Art Nouveau movement.
Berthon received training in art early on in Villefranche before moving to Paris to study the decorative arts at the Ecole Normale d’Enseignement de Dessin. Berthon acknowledged his greatest influence to be Eugène Grasset, a decorative arts teacher at his school. Grasset was also a successful artist and provided inspiration to Alphonse Mucha as well. Berthon created lithographs and decorative panels, designed book bindings, ceramics, and several magazine covers. His advertisement lithographs purposefully excluded the advertising within the image to be able to stand as works of art on their own. Berthon often worked with fellow Art Nouveau artist, Jules Chéret.
Berthon’s earlier work had a style that was heavily influenced by Grasset. In his later work, however, he developed a style of his own. Berthon’s study of the decorative arts and Japanese woodcuts is evident in his lithographs, most notably with his strong and defined lines. His color palette became more muted and sepia toned, and he incorporated flora into his designs.
Interestingly, there is not much known about Paul Berthon. He is sometimes confused with the French landscape artist, Paul Émile Berton (1846-1909). Paul Berthon passed away in 1934 at 62 years old.
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