Le Chat Noir Black Cat Statue by Steinlen

Le Chat Noir Black Cat Statue by Steinlen. Poster for La Tournee du Chat Noir (Black Cat, 1896) In 1881, Rudolphe Salis opened the Le Chat Noir Cabaret on the Boulevard Rochechouart (which later moved to the Rue de Laval). It soon became a legendary safe haven for the stage arts and Steinlen resided at its heart. He designed scenery, worked on the popular shadow plays, and in particular, he designed the famous poster which adorned Paris' walls. The black and red cat (the colors of anarchy) became Montmartre's symbol, the enclave and gathering site of artists. The text: Montjoie Montmartre (Montmartre my joy) halos the beast's mystical head. The press freedoms act and new printing methods gave Salis the opportunity to also publish a magazine. Le Chat Noir became a great success, even outside France, and this radiated onto Steinlen as its principal illustrator. Cats always played a major role in Steinlen's work. He loved the stray cats on Montmartre's roofs as did his colleagues, and adopted many of them to his wife's dismay.

• Size: 8"H x 3.5"W x 1.25"D
• Weight: 1.6 lbs
• Material: Resin with Hand Painted Color Details
• Made In: China

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Museum Reproductions Information:

History of Art Reproductions: As far as we know, the history of art reproductions takes us back to Imperial Rome where bronze and marble reproductions of Greek masterpieces served as decoration for lavish Roman Villas and Gardens. The art of casting is thousands of years old: Terracotta’s, Bronzes and ancient glass were cast from molds. Closer to our time in the mid 18th century coinciding with the search for new artistic styles which took inspiration from the roots of classic art (neoclassicism) and the discovery of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748, archaeological reproductions reappeared all over Europe. As a result of French expeditions to Egypt during the nineteenth century, a casting facility was set up next to the Louvre Museum where many important archaeological pieces from ancient Egypt were reproduced. Following the example of the Louvre, other leading European museums began to reproduce some of the masterpieces in their collections thus initiating a trend that continues until today.

Art Reproduction Craftsmanship: For the making of art reproductions, masterpieces have been chosen from the best museums all over the world, The Louvre, The British Museum, The National Museum of Athens, The Egyptian Museum Cairo, The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. We only use materials and techniques that can achieve the best quality in reproducing original works of art to obtain very fine pieces, up to the last detail. Our sculptures are cast in a variety of mediums: Bonded Stone, Polyresins, and Bronze. The finish of each reproduction, is always hand-made and showing craftsmanship and historical sense, is the work of an artisan. It is the task to present to the people of today the legacy of those ancient civilizations with all the beauty and mystery of our ancestors again in front of our eyes and at the reach of our hands. There is several steps that must be taken before a museum reproduction sculpture can be made. Most of our items are original artworks created by our sculptors, carved out of clay, stone, or wood. Once the original is carved, a mold is made, usually out of silicon. Crushed stone in a liquid resin medium is poured into a silicon mold where it solidifies into a hard stone that reproduces all the detail and texture of the original. All the finishes are done by hand. Many finishes include color detailing, a labor intensive process where colors are applied with small brushes by our skilled artisans.