Mattia Jona, Master Drawings and Prints, Japanese Prints - Piazzetta Guastalla 5, 20122 Milan, Italy, tel (+39) 02 8053315

THEOPHILE STEINLEN (Lausanne 1859 – Paris 1923) STUDIES OF FIGURES AND HEADS
Black chalk, 505 x 390 mm. Stamped with Atelier mark 'Th S' (on the verso).

The Swiss illustrator Steinlen, trained as textile designer, went to Paris to work for a textile factory. In the cafés and cabarets of Montmartre, notably 'Le Chat Noir', he met writers and artists with radical views on art and politics, like Emile Zola and Aristide Bruant. Steinlen became a member of their circles, and started creating illustrations for their publications. His moving realistic depictions of everyday life of ordinary people in the big city made him extremely popular.