Montmartre at night and cat portraits of Théophile Steinlen (30 photos)

Illustrator, printmaker and Art Nouveau artist Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen is known for his stylized images of cats, French posters and sketches of Montmartre nightlife.





In the 1880s and 1890s, Steinlen created posters and illustrations for the Parisian club Le Chat Noir, known as the first modern cabaret. Steinlen was born in 1859 in Lausanne and studied design for two years in his Swiss hometown at the University of Lausanne.



Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

In 1881, he moved to the bohemian Parisian district of Montmartre, where he became friends with artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Felix Vallotton and Adolphe Léon Willette. Steinlen gained further recognition through his participation in the Society of Independent Artists in the 1890s.

"Black cat". Poster of the cabaret of the same name

The proliferation of Steinlen's work during the "golden age" of posters and luxurious periodicals, equipped with wonderful illustrations, made him one of the symbols of European visual culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.



In a workshop

In his work, Steinlen used a variety of materials, from pencils to crayons and charcoal. In addition to painting, he was fond of sculpture and created several statues of the same cats, and also made carved leather bindings for books.



Monument in Paris

His oil on canvas painting Le Coup de vent (A Gust of Wind) (ca. 1895-96) sold at auction in 2007 for $406,285. Steinlen's works are in collections such as the State Hermitage Museum, the Orsay Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art.



"Gust of wind"