Nabi journalist
Ibels designed prints for popular magazines and sheet music, which enabled his art to reach a broader swathe of the population. His illustrations frequently contained an element of social critique, while his figures had a caricatural edge. The way Ibels represented the everyday life of the working class earned him the nickname ‘Le Nabi journaliste’.
Henri Gabriel Ibels, Sheet Music Comment on s'aime by René Esse and Léopold Gangloff, performed by Mévisto, 1893
Henri Gabriel Ibels, Poster for Henri Gabriel Ibels' one-man show at La Bodinière (Théâtre d'Application, 6 November - 15 December 1894), 1894
A series of theatre programmes
Like his contemporaries, Ibels also designed programmes for avant-garde theatres. The naturalist Théâtre Libre, where harsh Parisian life was presented on stage, formed a good fit with Ibels’ own ideals. The programmes he designed became so popular with audiences that special collectors’ editions of them were produced without the lettering.
Henri Gabriel Ibels, Mirages (Mirages), 1894
Further reading
- Charles Saunier, ‘H. – G. Ibels’, Edition de La Plume, Paris 1893
- Phillip Dennis Cate, The Graphic Arts and French Society, 1871-1914, New Jersey 1988
- André Mellerio, La Lithographie originale en couleurs, Paris 1898