Lait - 1894

VINTAGE FRENCH POSTER - GICLÉE PRINT

This vintage French poster is an example of "Affiche Artistique", advertising milk.  The artist is Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen.  Published in 1894.

Dimensions:  17.5" x 24"

Artists in the late 1800s found opportunities to present their work to the masses through advertising art that began to appear as billboards and posters, plastering the streets of Paris.  “Affiche Artistique” was the term that the French used to describe a poster that contained artistic expression.  The art was so impressive to the public, people began to collect the posters as soon as they went up, which is why they are so scarce today.  Artists such as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Pierre Bonnard and Eugène Grasset contributed to the creative body of work that became what some called  “a free museum for the masses”.  The craze for collecting these examples of modern art was even given the name, "affichomanie", meaning “artistic poster mania”.  Collectors today pay hundreds, if not thousands for original prints of these rare posters. 

We offer these exceptional vintage poster reproductions in the highest possible print quality.  Superior to most reproductions currently available on the market, our gallery quality prints are suitable for display in an art gallery or museum.  We begin with an ultra high resolution scan of the original artifact which we leave untouched, leaving intact the slightly distressed vintage character desirable in a collectible piece of this era.  Our state of the art, giclée reproduction process uses the latest technology: microscopic droplets of ink that render such a high resolution, that every minute detail of the original is intact.  Every pen line and brush stroke is visible.  Even very faint pencil lines are also visible due to the incredibly high quality of the reproduction process.  Our 8 color, archival quality inks and giclée printing process provide the most accurate color reproduction & are proven to last over a hundred years. Posters are available printed on museum quality archival paper or on repositionable media that allow you to plaster your walls with the “Affiche Artistique”, just as they were originally intended to be displayed. 

About the artist:

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen
Swiss, 1859-1923

Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, young Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen studied at the University of Lausanne for two years before accepting a position as a designer trainee in Mulhouse, France.  At the age of 22, and newly married, Steinlen moved to the Montemartre quarter of Paris, meeting many of the artists that were then part of the community.  He met and befriended Aristide Bruant, who asked him to illustrate for his magazine “Le Mirliton”.

One of Steinlen’s favorite haunts was the “Chat Noir” (Black Cat), the sort of cabaret artistique that Montmartre became famous for. 

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen died in Paris in 1923 and was buried in the Cimetière Saint-Vincent in Montmartre. His 1896 poster “Chat Noir” remains an enduring icon of the era, with Steinlen now one of the most exhibited and collected poster artists of the Belle Epogue.