At the beginning of the term at the Académie Julian, Paul Sérusier gathered his friends around, including Ibels, and gave them the name Nabis.

Along with painting, Ibels mastered the techniques and aesthetics of printmaking and a style suited for lithography for book illustration commissions, sheet-music covers, and advertisements.

He is described as a "consummate practitioner"[2] by Andre Mellario in La Lithographie originale en couleurs for allowing the use of color and line drawing more accessible in print.

His career was marked in 1891 when he[2] took part in Les Nabis’ exhibitions at Le Barc de Boutteville gallery, "Impressionist and Symbolist Painters.

[2] Inspired by contemporary life, Ibels' work consisted of subjects drawn from modern Paris such as the cafe, boxing rings, and the circus.

The characteristics in subject and technique of simplistic colors and shapes within his work can also be likened to artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Adolphe Willette, and Theophile Alexandre Steinlen.

[5] As photomechanical processes allowed lithographs and drawing to be cheaply reproduced in the press, editors and publishers began to incorporate caricatures within their journals during the 1890s.

[8] In April 1895, there were 13 glass stained windows that were created from sketches and displayed at the Salon de la Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts.

[8] Months later in December, 7 of these same stained glass-windows were presented at the Salon de L'Art Nouveau, Ibels' work included.

[10] Ibels expressed this ideology of a sickness by utilizing imagery of exhausted and tired soldiers in his drawings to demonstrate uniformed, conformity amongst citizens in support of anti-Dreysford.

Ibels' “Le Coup de Père François” and Zola's use of words such as “tyranny”, “boot”, “sword”, and “dictator” created a sense of menace.

[10] As a prominent French artist who spoke through his art, Henri-Gabriel Ibels played a significant role in shaping the narrative around the Dreyfus Affair during the late 19th century.

Before the Dreyfus affair, Ibels was like a vigilante artist supporting the cause but would soon publicly come out and change his stance in the Jewish newspaper, La Libre Parole.

[10] In specific, Ibels' artwork of caricatures was created in an effort to present how the Dreyfus Affair was more of a French rather than Jewish issue.

In addition, because he had experienced a position in both sides, his iconography during the Dreyfus Affair would become recognized as an encyclopedia of blogger-like pro- or anti-Dreyfus imagery.

Histoire Contemporaine,” was published in an effort to mock and question military's interference in civilian court, and indicate the Jewish had no association in the movement that grew around Dreyfus.