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Collection du Chat Noir
Collection of the Chat Noir
Collection du Chat Noir
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (French (born in Switzerland), 1859–1923)
1898
Medium/Technique
Poster, color lithograph printed in black and red
Dimensions
Framed: 155.3 x 117.2 x 4.8 cm (61 1/8 x 46 1/8 x 1 7/8 in.)
Sheet: 139.4 x 99.1 cm (54 7/8 x 39 in.)
Sheet: 139.4 x 99.1 cm (54 7/8 x 39 in.)
Credit Line
Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow Fund and partial gift of James A. Lapides
Accession Number2002.62
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
This poster advertises the sale of the collection of Rodolphe Salis, the owner of the Chat Noir, which opened in 1881 as the first cabaret in Paris. The artistic patrons of the Chat Noir and its irreverent performances of songs, plays, readings, and parades set the anything-goes tone for Montmartre. Its shadow theater, which combined colored lights, painted backgrounds, and sound effects with sophisticated cut-outs (emphasizing bold shapes and expressive silhouettes), was especially influential on the development of art in Toulouse-Lautrec's circle.
Catalogue Raisonné
Bargiel and Zagrodzki 32
DescriptionPoster advertising the sale of the contents of the Chat Noir cabaret
ProvenanceInternational Poster Gallery, MA; Purchased by MFA, March 20, 2002