Le Petit Sou
1900 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Théophile Steinlen (1859–1923)
- Year
- 1900
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Original size
- 138 × 98 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (department of Prints and Photography)
- Movement
- Belle Époque
A woman in red, her hair flying, strides forward holding a torch, while behind her a crowd of workers surges up and a grotesque figure of capital, with a money bag, is trampled underfoot. Steinlen designed the poster in 1900 for Le Petit Sou, the socialist daily founded by Alexandre Zévaès as a paper for the working class; it is his most openly political poster, and the striding woman is the Republic as the people's champion. The red, black and grey are printed by Charles Verneau, Paris. The impression reproduced is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A red-draped figure with a torch over a surging crowd, for a study, library or hallway at 16×24 or 24×36 in thin black, no mat. It suits a white or dark grey wall and pairs with Le Journal: Le Coupable.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Belle Époque painting
- Era
- 19th century (1900)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Le Petit Sou in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Le Petit Sou painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
