Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

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Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1913)
Steinlen: Le Chat noir , poster for the cabaret on Montmartre, 1896

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (born November 10, 1859 in Lausanne , † December 14, 1923 in Paris ) was a French painter , draftsman , graphic artist and illustrator of Swiss origin. He was best known for its poster - designs , especially for the cabaret Le Chat Noir in the style of French art direction Art Nouveau known.

Life

Steinlen came to Paris in 1878 and initially made his living as a technical draftsman. Five years later he settled in Montmartre , quickly settled in the local artistic milieu and made the acquaintance of Adolphe Willette . From 1884 onwards they were often to be found together at Le Chat Noir, the cabaret opened by Rodolphe Salis at the foot of the Montmartre hill , where they met Aristide Bruant . Steinlen was friends with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , among others .

He created the posters for the cabaret, illustrated the newspaper of the same name, Le Chat Noir, and the chanson collections by Aristide Bruant. He worked for various other humorous newspapers, including Gil Bas illustré , L'Assiette au Beurre and Le Rire , founded Les Humoristes with Forain and Léandre in 1911 and also worked as a book illustrator .

He exhibited his works first in the Salon des Indépendants (1893), later regularly in the Salon des Humoristes .

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen died in Paris in 1923 and rests on the Cimetière Saint-Vincent on Montmartre .

Choice of motifs

As an opponent of social injustice and full of compassion for the impoverished marginalized groups of society, who were not lacking in Montmartre, Steinlen found his motifs preferred in everyday life, in street and factory scenes, including in the plaster mines of Montmartre. They depict the life of the common people and the misery of all sorts of unhappy creatures: beggars, exhausted workers, demolished street children and prostitutes. But these characters seem to accept their sad existence mostly with resignation rather than rebelling against it. In addition, Steinlen was a tireless cat painter . He represented these again and again and in all variations: playing, sleeping, hissing ... He also devoted himself to nude painting .

The realism of his drawings seems to have influenced some of the works of Jean Peské .

techniques

His preferred means of expression were drawings and chalk drawings . More rarely he created oil paintings . Mention should also be made of his graphics, especially lithographs , in which he takes up the motifs already mentioned, and sometimes more decisive events, such as the events in Belgium and Serbia during the First World War .

He also created sculptures, mainly of cats.

Museum and selection of works

Steinlen: Advertising poster for a dairy product, 1896–1900

A remarkable collection of Steinlen's paintings, charcoal drawings, pencil drawings and so has the Musée Alphonse-Georges Poulain in Vernon in the Eure in Normandy . It came into the possession of the museum in 1960 mainly through a donation from the widow of the Belgian collector Yvon Lamberty , a friend of Steinlen's, but also through other donations or donations from Jehan Rictus , Francisque Poulbot and other artists and writers.

  • Painting:
    • Chat sur un coussin
    • Couple d'amoureux
    • La détente
    • La belle rousse
    • L'assiette au beurre
  • Drawings and pastel drawings:
    • L'omnibus
    • Retraité allumant sa pipe
    • Anatole France
    • Jeune femme au bust découvert
    • Les bouquetières
    • Le violoniste
    • Personnages au turban bleu
    • Études de femmes debout
  • Lithographs:
    • Les deux chats
    • Chat noir , lithograph en couleurs ( 1896 )
    • Clinique Chéron , color lithograph and poster ( 1905 )
  • Posters:
  • Also noteworthy:
    • Le 14-Juillet
    • L ' absinthe
    • Le Beau Soir
    • Dans la pluie et le vent
  • Book illustrations:

gallery

literature

  • Réjane Bargiel and Christophe Zagrodski: Steinlen posters. Oeuvre catalog ("Steinlen affichiste, catalog raisonné"). Wasmuth, Tübingen 1987, ISBN 3-8030-3034-X .
  • Claude Aveline : Steinlen, l'homme et l'œuvre . Les Écrivains réunis, Paris 1926 (Les Écrivains réunis; 4).
  • Emmanuel Bénézit : Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs, vol. 8 . 4th ed. Grund, Paris 1999ff, ISBN 2-7000-3010-9 , pp. 211-212.
  • Léonie Contat-Mercanton: Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. 1859-1923 . Gutenberg Museum, Basel 1960 (library of the Swiss Gutenberg Museum; 25).
  • Ernest de Crauzat: Steinlen peintre, engraver, lithograph . Ch. Meunier, Paris 1902 (special print from L'œuvre et l'image. Revue trimestielle de l'art contemporain et du livre illustré , 2nd year 1902).
  • Francis Jourdain: Un grand imagier. Alexandre Steinlen . Éditions du Cercle d'Art, Paris 1954.
  • Nicole Lamothe: Steinlen, peintre et illustrateur . In: Petites Affiches of February 4, 2005, p. 13.
  • Xavier Bodu, Bestiaire et Société: l'Animal dans l'œuvre de Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923), Mémoire de Master 1 en Histoire de l'Art Contemporain, sous la direction d'Emmanuel Pernoud, Université Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne, 2012.

Web links

Commons : Théophile Alexandre Steinlen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Steinlen, Théophile-Alexandre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French painter, draftsman, printmaker and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Lausanne
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1923
Place of death Paris