Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (November 10, 1859 – December 13, 1923), was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-born French

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

painter and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

. He was politically engaged and collaborated with the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

press.

Biography

Born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland, Steinlen studied at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

before taking a job as a designer trainee at a

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

in eastern France. In his early twenties he was still developing his skills as a painter when he and his wife Emilie Mey were encouraged by the painter François Bocion to move to the artistic community in the Montmartre Quarter of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Once there, Steinlen was befriended by the painter

Adolphe Willette Adolphe Léon Willette (30 July 1857 – 4 February 1926) was a French Painting, painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and lithographer, as well as an architect of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret. Willette ran as an "antisemitism, anti-semitic" c ...

who introduced him to the artistic crowd at

Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th century entertainment establishment in the Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by impresario Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 not long ...

that led to his commissions to do poster art for the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

owner/entertainer Aristide Bruant and for other commercial enterprises. In the early 1890s, Steinlen's paintings of rural landscapes, flowers, and nudes were being shown at the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

. His 1895

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

titled ''Les Chanteurs des Rues'' was the frontispiece to a work entitled ''Chansons de Montmartre'' published by Éditions Flammarion with sixteen original lithographs that illustrated the ''

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

'' songs of Paul Delmet. Five of his posters were published in '' Les Maîtres de l'Affiche''. His permanent home, Montmartre and its environs, was a favorite subject throughout Steinlen's life and he often painted scenes of some of the harsher aspects of life in the area. His daughter, Colette, was featured in much of his work. In addition to paintings and drawings, he also did

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

on a limited basis, most notably figures of

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s that he had great affection for as seen in many of his paintings. Steinlen included cats in many of his illustrations, and even published a book of his designs, ''Dessins Sans Paroles Des Chats''. Steinlen became a regular contributor to '' Le Rire'' and '' Gil Blas'' magazines plus numerous other publications including '' L'Assiette au Beurre'' and ''Les Humouristes'', a short-lived magazine he and a dozen other artists jointly founded in 1911. Between 1883 and 1920, he produced hundreds of illustrations, a number of which were done under a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

so as to avoid political problems because of their harsh criticisms of social ills. His art influenced the work of other artists, including

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. Théophile Steinlen died in 1923 in Paris and was buried in the

Cimetière Saint-Vincent Saint-Vincent Cemetery () is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. History Saint-Vincent Cemetery was opened on January 5, 1831. It was Montmartres second cemetery, built after the Calvary Cemetery, Paris, Cimetière du Calvaire had be ...

in Montmartre. Today, his works can be found at many museums around the world including at the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

in St. Petersburg,

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. and the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. A stone monument by Pierre Vannier was created for Steinlen in 1936; it is located in Square Joël Le Tac in

Selected works

File:Théophile Alexandre Steinlen - Cocorico - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Cocorico'' (1896) File:Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen - Tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salis (Tour of Rodolphe Salis' Chat Noir) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''La Tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salis'' (1896) File:Steinlen-Mothu et Doria.jpg, ''Mothu et Doria'' (1896-1900) File:SteinlenPoster.jpg, ''Lait pur stérilisé de la Vingeanne'' (1897) File:Théophile Alexandre Steinlen Café à Léon 1921.jpg, ''Café à Léon'' (1921) File:Théophile Alexandre Steinlen 25 Juin 1916 - Journée Serbe.jpg, ''25 Juin 1916 - Journée Serbe'' (1916)

References

External links

Steinlen.net
- A collection of more than 2,500 Steinlen images *
Illustrated article on Steinlen and his passion for house cats
at

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...

news, October 28, 2024 {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinlen, Theophile 1859 births 1923 deaths Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau illustrators 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French poster artists Artists from Lausanne Swiss emigrants to France Swiss printmakers 20th-century French printmakers People of Montmartre University of Lausanne alumni People from Alsace 19th-century French male artists Swiss anarchists French anarchists