Whereas Cheret’s enormous success as a poster artist granted him recognition and fame, he also created magical, winsome and ethereal oil paintings and pastels. They always included women, often times a carnival scene, a pierrot figure, picnic scenes, dancers appearing to float in the air, tambourine players dressed in Cheret‘s array of colors, actresses with flower decorated bonnets and flowing dresses. Cheret gave life and animation to all his subjects.

In 1881 Cheret created the poster Ambassadeurs, in 1892 the poster for Theatre de L’Opera and in 1894 he created Palais de Glace/Courier Francais. He is credited with creating nearly one thousand different images for posters whereas Toulouse-Lautrec did 32 posters. Toulouse-Lautrec created over 300 lithographs and was prolific in oil paintings and original drawings. Lautrec did many lithographs of actors and actresses as well as women in brothels where he spent a lot of his time. His view of Paris at that time was quite different from Cheret’s. Each were born in to different levels of society. Whereas Cheret was born in to a humble family, Toulouse-Lautrec was born in to a family of wealth and high society.

Since Cheret did not show his original painting and pastels at a Salon, it was not until 1912 that he showed his works in an exhibition at The Louvre. He artistic ability as a fine artist was immediately evident and thereafter he spent most of his time devoted to creating oil paintings and pastels. He accepted commission to decorate walls of villas and theaters, and murals in Nice for the Prefecture and the curtain for the Musee Grevin.

Cheret has accomplished what he had set out to do; he was the "artist celebre." Among his friends were the greatest artists of the time including Monet, Grun, Rodin, Steinlen, Leandre, Willette, Legrand, Degas, Seurat and Jacques Villon.