Sheet of Sketches: Men, Women and Cats (recto); Sheet of Sketches: Men and Women (verso)
1879/1923
Medium
Blue pencil and graphite, with pen and black ink (recto), bruch and black ink and blue pencil (verso), on cream wove paper
Dimensions
35.7 × 27.5 cm (14 1/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113096
Art Historical Context
Discover the lively energy of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen's *Sheet of Sketches: Men, Women and Cats (recto); Sheet of Sketches: Men and Women (verso)*, a double-sided treasure from the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings collection. Created sometime between 1879 and 1923, this 35.7 × 27.5 cm sheet on cream wove paper captures Steinlen's keen eye for everyday humanity. The recto bursts with fluid blue pencil, graphite, and pen-and-ink figures of men, women, and playful cats, while the verso employs brush, black ink, and blue pencil for more men and women in motion. Steinlen, a Swis...
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...