Swiss painter, pastellist, draughtsman and lithographer Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, naturalized French in 1901, was born in Lausanne in 1859. He studied theology at the University of Lausanne for two years, then turned to art in 1879, training in industrial ornamental design in Mulhouse. Steinlen moved to Paris with his wife in 1881. Living on the Montmartre hilltop, he quickly became acquainted with the small artistic world that gravitated there. He made contact with Adolphe Willette,...

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  Biography of TA Steinlen

  Swiss painter, pastellist, draughtsman and lithographer Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, naturalized French in 1901, was born in Lausanne in 1859. He studied theology at the University of Lausanne for two years, then turned to art in 1879, training in industrial ornamental design in Mulhouse. Steinlen moved to Paris with his wife in 1881. Living on the Montmartre hilltop, he quickly became acquainted with the small artistic world that gravitated there. He made contact with Adolphe Willette, frequented the “ Le Chat noir ” cabaret from 1884, became a friend of Toulouse-Lautrec and met Forain, Bruant, Vallotton and Verlaine. Steinlen exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1893, then regularly at the Salon des Humoristes. He illustrated literary works and contributed to various humoristic journals such as “ Gil Bas illustré ‘, ’ Les Humoristes ‘, which he founded in 1911 with Jean-Louis Forain and Charles Léandre, ’ l'Assiette au Beurre ‘ and ’ Le Rire ”. An outspoken opponent of injustice and sympathetic to the underprivileged, of whom there was no shortage in Montmartre at the time, he depicted scenes from the streets, factories and mines, featuring all manner of unfortunates, beggars, destitute workers, ragged kids and prostitutes. Steinlen was also a well-known specialist in cats, whom he drew again and again in all their whimsy, whether playful, asleep or angry. Female nudity was also one of his favorite subjects. Steinlen produced a number of prints based on the same themes as his drawings, such as those illustrating the misfortunes of Belgium and Serbia in 1914-1818. But it was above all his posters that made him so popular, as well as his cat-themed sculptures. Steinlen died in Paris in 1923.

  
  

  

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