Théophile Alexandre STEINLEN (Lausanne, 1859... Lot 23

Théophile Alexandre STEINLEN (Lausanne, 1859 - Paris, 1923) Passengers in a first class carriage About 1900 Charcoal and pastel 30x27cm expert : Alexis BORDES When he arrived in Paris at the end of the 19th century, Steinlen discovered the most famous cabarets in the capital, in particular the Chat Noir especially Le Chat Noir, which was very popular with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whom he admired. Trained in industrial in Alsace, Steinlen was also interested in sketching, which he used as a receptacle for his which he used as a receptacle for his political ideas. Steinlen sketched on the spot, revealing simple images of everyday life, appreciated for their truth: passers-by, beggars, merchants, vagabonds or, as in our drawing travellers (the Louvre Museum in Paris has a drawing by the artist which also shows travellers (The Louvre in Paris also holds a drawing by the artist showing travellers sitting on a bench: Seated Travellers, inv. RF 35730, recto). In a first-class carriage, the comfort of which is illustrated by a soft light shining through, two couples, an elderly woman and a two couples, an elderly woman and a little girl, sitting on two benches facing each other, are dressed in the fashion of the time. of the time. The effect of immediacy translated by the rapid charcoal strokes enhanced by the use of pastel, both in the fabrics and in the facial expressions, evokes calm and elegance, unlike the second class passengers the second-class passengers, whom the artist depicts grouped together and squeezed onto narrow benches (ill. 1), whose vertical black charcoal lines convey excitement and dirtiness. A remarkable draughtsman and a witness to his time, Steinlen was a committed artist who used his art to denounce the gap between the different to denounce the gap between the different social classes. He thus collaborated with numerous artistic and satirical artistic and satirical newspapers newly born thanks to the law of 1881, promoting freedom of the press, including Le Chat Noir, Le Mirliton and La Caricature