Adolphe Willette was born in Châlons-sur-Marne, was a student of Cabanel at the École des Beaux-arts, and had his first picture (la Tentation de St Antoine) in the Salon in 1881. Known primarily as a poster artist, he worked at the Chat-Noir, le Courrier Français, le Triboulet et le Rire. He founded Le Pierrot and Le Pied de Nez. In 1910, he helped to establish the journall Les Humoristes. He was friendly with Steinlen and Toulouse-Lautrec--and a well known figure at the cabaret of Aristide Bruant. In addition to the posters and sketches for which he was justly famous, he did menus for restaurants in exchange for free meals.
