Plate: PL. 18

"Grasset did much to introduce the concept and practice of Art Nouveau in France. In fact, Grasset 'brought Art Nouveau to the poster: it was to become a worldwide vehicle of the art of advertising. In France, Grasset was the pioneer of an attempt, like that of William Morris in England, to reconcile art and industry…Interested as he was in all the applied arts he came naturally to the poster'(Weill p.32) This detailed slice of exotica points out in the text that the Place Clichy department store is the premiere importers of oriental merchandise in the entire world. But Grasset's artistic skill makes the boast seem almost redundant as that notion has already been brightly conveyed in the design that went through several printings and editions…" (Rennert, PAI-XXIV, 373)