The Street (La rue), poster for the printer Charles Verneau
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859 - 1923), 1896
seven-colour lithograph, 242 cm x 299 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Colourful posters were a common sight in the streets of fin-de-siècle Paris. They were more than mere advertisements – some were genuine works of art. High-quality designs by progressive young artists were printed by specialist printshops. Théophile Alexandre Steinlen created this gigantic poster to advertise the master printer Charles Verneau.
The Street is one of Steinlen’s most important works of art. Its large scale meant the poster had to be printed in no fewer than six separate parts. With its sparkling expanses of colour, decorative patterns and vivid content, the work has everything that made poster-art so innovative in this period.
Steinlen presents a contemporary street scene, with people from every walk of life: the capitalist, the laundrywoman, the elegant Parisian lady and the worker. The artist has made all the figures the same height, as in a frieze in a classical temple or a fresco in a church. It is with good reason that at the time, posters were referred to as 'frescoes for the masses'.
What is it?
What can you see?
Context
- Object number
- p2725S2013
- Dimensions
- 242 cm x 299 cm, 234.5 cm x 296 cm, 234.5 cm x 296 cm
- Catalogue raisonné
- De Crauzat 495
- printmaker
- Théophile Alexandre Steinlen
- printer
- Imprimerie Charles Verneau
- publisher
- Imprimerie Charles Verneau
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
- signature and date
- Steinlen 96
- inscription
- Affiches Charles Verneau
- inscription
- "LA RUE" PARIS. 114, RUE OBERKAMPF CHARLES VERNEAU, IMPRIMEUR by Imprimerie Charles Verneau
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Ongekend. Verhalen rond 10 jaar aanwinsten, 5 February-12 September 2021
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Prints in Paris 1900. Van elitair tot populair, 3 March-11 June 2017
Kaenel, Phillippe, Lepdor, Catherine, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen : l'oeil de la rue, 2008, p. 66, 68