Théophile Alexandre Steinlen

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen was a celebrated draughtsman of the Art Nouveau era. Most of his work was published in the magazine Le Chat Noir, for which he created lots of silent comics with cats or other animals. He came to Paris from his native Switzerland at age 20. There, he established himself as a leading illustrator of popular journals, such as Le Rire. He also drew for the prints of Imagerie Quantin in Paris, which resembled the Images d'Épinal.

In order to avoid political repercussions for some of his art dealing with strong social content he often employed pseudonyms such as Treelan and Pierre. Steinlen was an influential artist of the socialist journal Le Chambard. In the 1890's Steinlen's use of line and design led to some of the most famous posters of the Art Nouveau movement.