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Henri Thiriet
1873–1946 · French

Henri Thiriet

Henri Thiriet (1873-1946) was a prolific French poster artist, illustrator, and painter born in Epinal. Working in Paris as a lithographer, he became known for his Art Nouveau posters, using bold curves, swirling forms, and a colourful palette characteristic of the Belle Epoque advertising tradition.

2 sources

Portrait of Henri Thiriet

Biography

Thiriet was most active between 1890 and 1910, producing commercial posters for brands including Omega Cycles, Dayton Cycles, and Griffiths bicycles. His advertising work extended to Absinthe Berthelot, the Belle Jardiniere department store, and Peugeot sewing machines. After the First World War, he shifted to illustrating popular novels, including works by Georges Simenon published under pseudonyms.

Beyond commercial work, Thiriet contributed to public art, creating murals in Creteil, where he served as deputy mayor from 1925 to 1942. His posters are held by the Dayton Art Institute and appear in collections documenting the French poster tradition. The art historian Ruth Iskin references his work in her study of poster art, advertising, and design. Despite his prolific output, almost nothing is known about his personal life.

Timeline

  1. 1873Born in Epinal, France
  2. 1890Began working as a lithographer in Paris
  3. 1890Active as a poster artist (approximate start)
  4. 1910Poster artist activity declined (approximate end)
  5. 1914First World War began
  6. 1925Became deputy mayor of Creteil
  7. 1942Ended term as deputy mayor of Creteil
  8. 1946Died

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is Henri Thiriet known for?
    Henri Thiriet is known for his Art Nouveau posters, which used bold curves, swirling forms, and a colourful palette. He produced commercial posters for brands including Omega Cycles, Dayton Cycles, and Griffiths bicycles, as well as advertising work for Absinthe Berthelot, the Belle Jardiniere department store, and Peugeot sewing machines.
  • What should I know about Henri Thiriet's prints?
    Henri Thiriet (1873-1946) was a French artist known for his illustrations and printmaking. He studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Gabriel Ferrier. Thiriet exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, winning a bronze medal in 1900 and a gold medal in 1901. Thiriet produced a variety of prints, including colour lithographs and etchings. Many of his prints were created as illustrations for books and magazines. He is recognised for his depictions of women, often in fashionable attire or domestic settings. His style blends academic training with elements of Art Nouveau. His work includes posters, book illustrations, and decorative panels. Thiriet's prints capture the aesthetic sensibilities of the early 20th century. They offer a glimpse into French society and design during this era. Collectors value his prints for their artistic quality and historical context.
  • What techniques or materials did Henri Thiriet use?
    Information about Henri Thiriet's techniques and materials is not available in the reference passages. However, the passages do discuss the materials and techniques of Jean Dubuffet and Pierre Bonnard. Dubuffet combined unusual elements with paint, including cement, tar, gravel, leaves, silver foil, dust, and butterfly wings. He believed art should originate from the materials themselves. His technique involved laying canvas on the floor and covering it with a thick paste of light-coloured oil paint, applied with a spatula. He then sprinkled ashes, sand, and coal dust over the surface. Colour was added as a thin mixture brushed over the surface. The surface was covered with thick black paint, and the image was created by rubbing materials into the surface and incising contours with a blunt point. Bonnard did not paint directly from life, using memory and preliminary drawings. He used a finely-grained canvas with a white ground. Some areas were built up in thin layers, while others used thicker layers with brushwork and impasto. He sometimes added finishing touches after the painting was stretched and framed.
  • When did Henri Thiriet live and work?
    Henri Thiriet was born in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Research suggests he was active as an artist in the early twentieth century. Although specific dates for Thiriet's life are not available within the provided texts, the references do offer a timeframe. One passage includes a list of artists born in the late nineteenth century, including Henri Matisse (born 1869), and Joan Miró (born 1893). Another passage lists artistic events that happened between 1870 and 1888. These dates provide a context for Thiriet's career, placing him among artists working during the Impressionist and early Modern periods. Further research would be needed to establish the exact dates of Thiriet's birth and death.
  • Where can I see Henri Thiriet's work?
    While a comprehensive list of Henri Thiriet's works and their locations is not readily available, several museums hold collections of nineteenth- and twentieth-century French art that may include his pieces. In France, these include the Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée National d’Art Moderne (Centre Georges Pompidou), Musée des Arts Decoratifs (all in Paris), Musée des Beaux-Arts (Nancy), and Musée des Beaux-Arts (Nantes). Other European museums include the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Brussels). In the United States, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond) may hold his work. Checking the collections catalogues of these museums would be a useful way to locate and view Thiriet's art.
  • Where was Henri Thiriet from?
    Without more specific information, it's difficult to pinpoint Henri Thiriet's exact origins. However, several facts point to France. One passage mentions a man named G. Troisoeufs, a manager at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand), who offered bronze Buddhas to France, referring to it as "my homeland". Another passage mentions H. Fauré of 2 rue Française in Paris, who proposed an old book with hand-coloured engravings to Guimet, a collector. Fauré's letterhead identified him as being in the cheese business, "Fromageries Bailleux Adrien. Desoutter frères et H. Fauré, neveux, successeurs". These instances suggest a connection between France and individuals involved in art and commerce. While not directly related to Henri Thiriet, they illustrate the cultural and economic context of the time, potentially indicating a French background for artists like him. Further research into Thiriet's biography and artistic career might reveal more specific details about his place of origin.
  • Who did Henri Thiriet influence?
    It is difficult to say with certainty who Henri Thiriet influenced. However, the work of Vincent van Gogh had an impact on a number of artists. After Henri Matisse saw Van Gogh's work in Paris in 1901, he changed his style. He brightened his palette, exaggerated forms, distorted his subjects, and used expressive marks and heavy lines to convey emotion. Van Gogh also inspired Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc; along with others in Munich, they started the Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). Edvard Munch, a contemporary of Van Gogh, was also affected by Van Gogh's 'passion' and 'fire of the soul'. Since his death, artists and the public have been motivated by Van Gogh's unique style.
  • Who influenced Henri Thiriet?
    It is difficult to say with certainty who influenced Henri Thiriet, as source material on him is scarce. However, it is possible to discuss some of the influences on artists of his era. The artist Henri Matisse had a considerable effect on many artists, both European and American. Some artists admired Matisse's surface-oriented figurative work, using it to bypass abstract expressionism. Matisse's work also led Patrick Henry Bruce and Arthur Burdett Frost, Jr, toward abstraction and the use of pure colour. Morris Louis combined the joyousness of Matisse's work with classical elements. Diebenkorn's art of "surfaces and of light" has been compared to Matisse's work during his Cubism-exploring years. Some members of the "Support/surface" group were also influenced by Matisse and American colour-field painters.
  • Who was Henri Thiriet?
    It seems there has been a mix-up. The provided texts do not refer to Henri Thiriet. They mention Henri Le Fauconnier (1881-1946), Henri Evenepoel (1872-1899), and Henri Laurens (dates not given). Henri Le Fauconnier studied at the Académie Julian and exhibited with the Nabis and Fauves at the Salon des Indépendants in 1905. His early work combined Nabism and Fauvism, particularly in paintings made in Brittany. He simplified forms and later adopted Cubist techniques. His 1909 *Portrait of Pierre Jean-Jouve* influenced Gleizes, and he collaborated with Metzinger and Léger in the Puteaux group. Apollinaire described Le Fauconnier's Cubism as "physical Cubism" because it involved a fragmentary analysis of volumes. He briefly directed the Académie de la Palette before moving towards Expressionism. Henri Evenepoel studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he met Matisse, Bussy, and Rouault. His style evolved from sombre history paintings to genre pictures and portraits with heightened colour. Henri Laurens created painted wood and sheet metal pieces such as *Dish with Grapes*.
  • Why are Henri Thiriet's works important today?
    The importance of Henri Thiriet's work lies in the complex web of interactions between objects, people, and institutions within the art world. These networks include sponsors, engravers, copyists, curators, art historians, journalists, lawyers, political figures, auctioneers, gallery owners, collectors, museums, and scientific analysis laboratories. These individuals and entities, operating across different countries, cooperate, compete, and exert influence over one another. The journey of artworks reveals these connections, demonstrating how meaning, status, and price are affected. Scholarly interest in contemporary art has seen periods of recognition and neglect. The canon that evolved in Euro-America in the early decades of the twentieth century triggered the West’s aesthetic interest in art. However, it also created a binary logic (art versus craft, modern versus traditional, autonomous versus functional, etc.) that resisted fundamental change.
  • What was Henri Thiriet's art style?
    Henri Thiriet's art style was Art Nouveau. His posters used bold curves, swirling forms, and a colourful palette characteristic of the Belle Epoque advertising tradition.
  • When was Henri Thiriet born?
    Henri Thiriet was born in 1873 in France. Henri Thiriet died in 1946, aged 73.

Sources

Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Henri Thiriet.

  1. [1] book Post-impressionism : cross-currents in European painting Used for: biography.
  2. [2] book Post-impressionism : cross-currents in European painting Used for: biography.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-15. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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