# Alfred Choubrac artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/alfred-choubrac/
Profile generated: 2026-05-24T10:19:04.850Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1853-12-30
- Death date: 1902-01-01
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Belle Époque poster art
- Common media: watercolor, gouache, lithographic poster, drawing

## About Alfred Choubrac

Alfred Choubrac (1853–1902) was a French painter, illustrator, draughtsman, watercolorist, and poster artist active in Paris during the Belle Époque. Born and based in Paris, he is recognized alongside Jules Chéret as a pioneer of the modern colored illustrated poster that transformed Parisian visual culture in the late nineteenth century. Choubrac produced hundreds of lithographic posters and maquettes for the city's leading entertainment venues, including the Folies-Bergère, the Casino de Paris, the Alcazar d'Été, and the Folies Dramatiques, as well as costume designs for theatrical productions. His practice also encompassed watercolor and gouache painting, with orientalist themes recorded among his subjects. Choubrac's work is documented in major institutional collections including the Bibliothèque nationale de France and is cited in standard reference works such as Bénézit's Dictionnaire critique.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers most frequently encounter Alfred Choubrac's work in the form of chromolithographic advertising posters for Parisian entertainment venues, poster maquettes (preliminary designs), watercolor and gouache paintings, costume design sketches for theatrical productions, and illustrated journal covers. His posters for the Folies-Bergère and other Belle Époque cabarets are among the most widely circulated examples on the auction market.

## Market and appraisal context

Alfred Choubrac's works appear at auction primarily as original lithographic posters, poster maquettes, watercolors, and gouaches. Posters advertising well-known Parisian cabarets and theaters tend to attract the strongest collector interest. As with all Belle Époque graphic art, value depends on condition, color quality, provenance, rarity of the specific edition, and the cultural significance of the venue or production depicted. Attribution should be verified through lithographic marks, signature, or catalogue references, as reissues and reproductive prints exist in this category.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine structured artist identity research from library authority files, museum records, and biographical reference works with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Alfred Choubrac, identity data is grounded in the Getty ULAN authority file, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, VIAF, and Wikidata, with biographical context drawn from Wikipedia and the Bibliothèque nationale de France catalog.

## Sources

- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/16729
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4722447
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/277058/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500475301
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Choubrac
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/35895