Conversation
Medium
Photo-relief of a lithograph (or chromotypogravure) in black and orange on slick white wove paper laid down on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image, not incl. registration marks: 25.9 × 20 cm (10 1/4 × 7 7/8 in.); Sheet: 31.6 × 26.3 cm (12 1/2 × 10 3/8 in.)
Classification
photorelief
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49599
Art Historical Context
Théophile-Alexandrelen, a Swiss-born artist who thrived in Paris during the Belle Époque, was renowned for his poignant lithographic posters and illustrations capturing the vibrancy of working-class life, cabaret culture, and everyday Parisian scenes. Often associated with Montmartre's bohemian world, including his iconic designs for the Chat Noir cabaret Steinlen's realist style infused social observation with warmth and subtle social commentary. *Conversation*, an undated work from the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings collection, exemplifies his mastery of printmaking, likely depic...
About the Artist
Théophile-Alexandre Pierre Steinlen · 1859–1923
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, born on November 10, 1859, in Lausanne, Switzerland, grew up in an environment steeped in artistic influence, with his grandfather serving as a drawing teacher in nearby Vevey. He studied literature at the University of Lausanne before working as a designer trainee in a Mulhouse textile mill. In his early twenties, around 1881, Steinlen married Émilie Mey, and the cou...