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Paul Berthon

Paul Berthon (1872-1934) was a French painter, poster artist and decorator. He was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône. Son of a primary school inspector, he began studying painting in his hometown of Villefranche. From 1893, he moved to Paris, where he attended classes at the École Normale d'enseignement du dessin.  Among the courses he took, was those of the decorative arts, where he moved towards a resolutely Art Nouveau style. In Paul Berthon's early works he had develped his own style, based on a palette of autumnal pastels, with clear lines and contours. The catalogue of his works is not huge, around a hundred lithographs (printed in particular by Bourgerie et Cie), chromolithographs (by Chaix & Cie) and woodcuts, two thirds of which are described as "decorative panels". Incidentally, he produced some book bindings and furniture design (exhibited at the 1895 Salon) as well as ceramic design for Villeroy & Boch (late 1890s). Also noteworthy is a famous cover of the magazine L'Image (wood engraving) in 1897; the same year, a poster for the la compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest (Normandie-Bretagne) and two other posters, L'Ermitage and Leçons de violon (1898) reproduced in the magazine Les Maîtres de l'affiche.

Paul Berthon is sometimes confused with the French landscape painter Paul Émile Berthon (1846-1909).

January 2nd 2025

 

 
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