Veuves d’un Louis
Théophile Steinlen (1859-1923), Veuves d’un Louis, lithograph in two colors (brown and black), 1915, numbered (326/400 but not signed [signed, titled and dated in the plate], from the edition of 400. Not in Crauzat (Crauzat was published in 1913, and so did not include works after that date). In very good condition, the full sheet, on a cream wove paper, 16 x 12 1/4, the sheet 22 x 15 inches.
A fine impression.
Although he is famed for his fin de siecle posters (and for his cats!), Steinlen’s work throughout his career was marked by strong social consciousness. From early on, he created images of French life – prostitutes and pimps, construction workers and miners, ragpickers and soldiers, workers, city people. Veuves (widows) is a night scene, a portrait of three young Parisien women – and another shadowy figure off to the right – standing on a street corner.