Amazing posters by Eugene Auger, an advertising innovator

The French artist of the XIX century, Eugene Auger– is one of the innovators in the poster genre and the creators of the advertising poster in the form in which we know it today.

French poster artist and illustrator Eugene Auger was born in 1861 in Paris. He began studying with Charles Verne, a printer who specialized in posters, and became a lithographer. During this period, he met several famous poster artists, including Adolphe Leon Villette, Jean-Louis Forin and Theophile Alexander Steinlen. In his spare time, he studied painting at the Julian Academy and admired Jules Cher, an innovator in poster design.

In the 1890s, Auger opened his own workshop and began designing posters, first under contract with True, and then with Pierre Vercasson. Gradually, he developed his own style, moving away from the luxurious women beloved by Shere. By 1900, he was working almost exclusively in the genre of caricature. After 1902, he collaborated with La Lanterne, a daily magazine with anticlerical sentiments.

In the years leading up to the First World War, Auger caricatured many prominent people, including Paul Kruger's Queen Victoria, and also portrayed heads of state in the Permanent Court of Arbitration to advertise Giffard's mint paste. Other companies he has worked with include Maggi, Gellé frères, Bazar de l'hotel de Ville and Réglisse Zan.

During the war, Auger drew very few posters — instead, he focused on rubber models and patterns for advertising balloons. He died in 1936 at the age of 74.