Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

Born Nov. 10, 1859, in Lausanne; died Dec. 14, 1923, in Paris. Swiss-born French graphic artist.

Steinlen studied art in Lausanne and went to live in Paris in 1882. He worked primarily in the medium of lithography, contributing to socialist journals and illustrating books (for example, A. Bruant’s collection Dans la Rue, 1888). In the tradition of H. Daumier, Steinlen depicted with particular clarity and acute-ness social inequality, the horrors of war, and the revolutionary struggle of the people (for example, The Strike, 1898; The Liberator, 1903; and Refugees, etching, 1916). Steinlen also worked as a caricaturist and poster artist; he did some painting as well. In the last years of his life he was closely associated with the journal Ciarte and was a contributor to the newspaper L’Humanité.