Steinlen (Théophile Alexandre) - Lot 49

Steinlen (Théophile Alexandre) Ɵ Original signed drawing for La Chanson des gueux by Jean Richepin. Circa 1900 (23 x 21.5 cm), charcoal with traces of white gouache, signed "Steinlen". Large, elaborate original drawing that served as the final model for one of the full-page illustrations for Jean Richepin's La Chanson des gueux. La Chanson des gueux is one of the last great books by a professional illustrator, in a world where "grands illustrés" quickly became "livres de peintres". In 1910, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923) was 52 years old and at the height of his illustrating powers. His style lent itself perfectly to the world of the "beggars" described by Jean Richepin. The book, the last of Steinlen's collaboration with publisher Pelletan, took ten years to complete. As Vollard had done with Bonnard for Parallèlement, Pelletan provided Steinlen with the typographic plan for the text, so that the illustrations would be organized around it. But instead of commissioning lithographs, Pelletan preferred to have zinc plates engraved from Steinlen's original drawings. Provenance: Adolphe Bordes; Raphaël Esmerian.