Poster for La Tournee du Chat Noir (Black Cat, 1896) In 1881, Rudolphe Salis opened the
Le Chat Noir Cabaret on the Boulevard Rochechouart (which later moved to the Rue de Laval). It soon became a legendary safe haven for the stage arts and Steinlen resided at its heart. He designed scenery, worked on the popular shadow plays, and in particular, he designed the famous poster which adorned Paris' walls. The black and red cat (the colors of anarchy) became Montmartre's symbol, the enclave and gathering site of artists. The text:
Montjoie Montmartre (Montmartre my joy) halos the beast's mystical head. The press freedoms act and new printing methods gave Salis the opportunity to also publish a magazine.
Le Chat Noir became a great success, even outside France, and this radiated onto Steinlen as its principal illustrator. Cats always played a major role in Steinlen's work. He loved the stray cats on Montmartre's roofs as did his colleagues, and adopted many of them to his wife's dismay.
Statue adaptation of a famous poster for
Le Chat Noir is made from resin with hand painted color details. Includes color description card in multiple languages. Measures: 8"H x 3.5"W x 1.25"D.
Part of the
Parastone Museum Collection of noteworthy museum statues, paintings and cultural artifacts.
Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) Steinlen
stopped taking philosophy at a university in his home town of Lausanne
prematurely to start working in Mulhouse as a textile designer. The
socially committed, kindhearted artist left for Paris in 1881 with his
wife, where they moved to the hill of Montmarte, a neighborhood which
was about to develop into the epicenter of the French avant-garde. He
befriended the painter Adolphe Willette who introduced him to the
artistic circles around the
Le Chat Noir Cabaret.
In the early 1890's, Steinlen still painted traditional subjects such
as landscapes, flower still lifes and nudes, and these were exhibited
for the first time at the
Salon des Independents.
Later work increasingly displayed social-realist tendencies. Steinlen
became a sought after illustrator for legendary magazines such as Le
Rire and Gil Bas. Some of his illustrations appeared pseudonymously in
order to prevent political repercussions.
