steinlen offers up a smiling cat

thanks wikipaintings.org. (PD)

Theophile Steinlen (Swiss, worked in France; 1859-1923) made a name for himself in French Art Nouveau illustrations and advertising.  You've definitely seen his posters; people still reproduce them (here's proof - I know you've seen at least one of these).  Cats played a large part in his work.  They lend themselves perfectly to the sinuous lines of Art Nouveau; they play off well against women, who were also a major subject for Art Nouveau mass imagery; and besides he simply appreciated them for themselves, as you can tell from this ink sketch of a Smiling Cat.  This fellow's chunkier and scrappier than those in Steinlen's commercial work, and I like him all the better for it.