Tournée du Chat Noir
1896 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Théophile Steinlen (1859–1923)
- Year
- 1896
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Original size
- 135.9 × 95.9 cm
- Collection
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (department of Prints and Photography)
- Movement
- Belle Époque
A black cat sits bolt upright with its tail curled, a red halo behind its head, under the lettering "Prochainement, Tournée du Chat Noir, avec Rodolphe Salis". Steinlen designed the poster in 1896 to announce the provincial tour of the Chat Noir cabaret's shadow theatre and singers, led by its founder Rodolphe Salis, after the Montmartre cabaret itself had closed; the cat was its emblem, and Steinlen, who filled his own house with cats, drew it as a heraldic beast. It is now the single most reproduced poster of the Belle Époque. Printed by Charles Verneau, Paris. The impression reproduced is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A black cat on cream with a red band, for a kitchen, hallway, study or café wall at 16×24 or 24×36 in thin black, no mat. It holds a white, cream or dark red wall and pairs with Lait pur stérilisé for a cat pair.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Belle Époque painting
- Era
- 19th century (1896)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- kitchen, 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. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
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 Tournée du Chat Noir in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Tournée du Chat Noir painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
