La reine de joie by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1892)

In his lifetime, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec printed just thirty-one posters. This poster was designed to advertise a close friend Victor Dobrsky's (penname: Victor Joze) novel Reine de joie, mœurs du demi-monde (Roughly translated to Queen of Pleasure, the World of Easy Virtue).

The novel depicts the activities of Parisian prostitutes—part of the bohemian lifestyle Toulouse-Lautrec was drawn to in Montmartre. This kind of lifestyle was the root of many inspirations during the Art Nouveau movement.

The application of flat colour in the forms and the red of the dress show a progression toward modern-day forms of graphic design.

Source(s):
Meggs' History of Graphic Design
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/toulouse-lautrec.html
http://blogs.princeton.edu/wri152-3/s06/borowitz/prostitution_in_posters...
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prnt2/ho_32.88.12.htm