Antique 1896 Cabaret Du Chat Noir Poster Steinlen

This listing is for an antique poster advertising the reopening of the Cabaret Du Chat Noir in 1896. The cabaret was located on Victor-Masse road in Paris and the poster was designed by Theophile Alexandre Steinlen [Swiss-born French Art Nouveau Painter and Printmaker, 1859-1923]. Originally, the poster showed a large black cat on the left side but at some point along the line, that section of the poster was removed. The seller didn't know why but he thought it might have become damaged, or perhaps someone just wanted that piece of it. The poster has been mounted on a larger piece of paper which was then mounted on linen. The entire piece measures approximately 31" inches by 49" inches and is in good condition overall. The poster itself has moderate yellowing, some wear around the edges, and what appears to be a tear in the upper left hand corner. This listing has no reserve price so don't miss your chance to win!

From Wikipedia:

Le Chat Noir (French for "The Black Cat") was a 19th-century cabaret in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard Rouchechouart by the artist Rodolphe Salis, and closed in 1897 (much to the disappointment of Picasso and others who looked for it when they came to Paris for the Exposition in 1900). Its imitators have included cabarets from St. Petersburg (The Stray Dog) to Barcelona (Els Quatre Gats). There is a "Black Cat" cafe in the City of Corfu, Greece, next to the sea on the main street between the (new) harbor and the center of town, and a quite conventional tourist restaurant called "Au Chat Noir" in the center of Brussels.

Perhaps best known now by its iconic Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen poster art, in its heyday it was a bustling nightclub — part artist salon, part rowdy music hall, partially due to an illegal piano. The cabaret published its own journal Le Chat Noir. It began as a small, two room affair, but within three and a half years its popularity forced it to move into larger accommodations a few doors down. Salis most often played, with exaggerated, ironic politeness, the role of conférencier (post-performance lecturer, or MC). It was here that the Salon des Arts Incohérents (Salon of Incoherent Arts), the "shadow plays" and the comic monologues got their start.

According to Salis: "The Chat Noir is the most extraordinary cabaret in the world. You rub shoulders with the most famous men of Paris, meeting there with foreigners from every corner of the world."

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