The Shower
Medium
Aquatint and drypoint from two zinc plates printed à la poupée in 6 colors (black, dark gray, medium gray, brown, blue and pink) on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 24.1 × 12.2 cm (9 1/2 × 4 13/16 in.); Sheet: 42.5 × 30.2 cm (16 3/4 × 11 15/16 in.)
Classification
aquatint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49650
Art Historical Context
**The Shower**, created by Swiss-born French artist Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen in 1898, captures an intimate moment of everyday life through masterful printmaking. Steinlen, renowned for his depictions of Parisian working-class scenes and his iconic cat posters during the Belle Époque, a tender realism to this work. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings department, the image measures a compact 24.1 × 12.2 cm, printed on ivory laid paper. This aquatint and drypoint executed from two zinc plates and printed *à la poupée* in six vibrant colors—black, dark gray, medium gray, ...
About the Artist
Théophile-Alexandre Pierre Steinlen · 1859–1923
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, born on November 10, 1859, in Lausanne, Switzerland, grew up in an environment steeped in artistic influence, with his grandfather serving as a drawing teacher in nearby Vevey. He studied literature at the University of Lausanne before working as a designer trainee in a Mulhouse textile mill. In his early twenties, around 1881, Steinlen married Émilie Mey, and the cou...