[1][2] With his elder brother Léon Choubrac (1847–1885), Alfred was trained as a classical artist at the École des Beaux Arts by the painters Charles Doërr (fr) and Isidore Pils.

[4][5] In 1884, the Paris city council started to rent out space belonging to the municipality, paving the way for a rapid increase in the production and distribution of advertising posters.

[5][11] One of the censored posters advertised the performance of the dancer Ilka de Mynn at the Folies Bergère, who was depicted in a maillot (body stocking), which, according to the court that charged Choubrac was a cause for concern because the model appeared to be nude.

[7][12] In an interview with La Presse, Choubrac said he was astonished by the upheaval, claiming that "nudity is exposed everywhere and in much more provocative ways; and I frankly confess that I do not see where the evil was, I sought to make a work of art and nothing more.

[14] In reaction, Choubrac published a poster in protest, with a large vine leaf (to cover indecent images) and a long pair of scissors printed in green on yellow paper.

The text of this leaflet, available in only a few copies, is as follows: "Large choice of vine leaves of all sizes for illustrated posters, at the request of the virtuous newspapers the T..., the G... and the D."[14][15] In later life he became also known for his designs of stage costumes for the theatre.

[18][19] The New York Grolier Club in November 1890 organised an exhibition of prints of the "masters in the newest art", that of bill posting, including Choubrac, Chéret, Willette and Eugène Grasset.

According to Maindron, in his subsequent book Les Affiches Illustrees (1886–1895) published in 1896, Choubrac must have drawn more than four hundred posters for theatres, novels and industry products, before he switched his attention to the design of theatrical costumes, in which he was equally successful.