Toulouse-Lautrec's Belle Époque cabaret posters (1891–1900) are the founding works of modern advertising art. Chromolithographs for Moulin Rouge, Divan Japonais, and Folies-Bergère fused Japanese ukiyo-e composition with flat color zones and gestural ink-brush silhouettes — La Goulue kicking on a mustard ground, the audience a single black mass behind her, a vermillion ribbon the only spark of heat.

The visual language is strict: four colors maximum, no rendering, hand-painted display lettering integrated as image, bold cropping that pushes figures off the page. Type and silhouette are inseparable — the poster reads as one gestural object. The night is electric, the dance is everything.