1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: So the poster that is colloquially known as lu Cha 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: Noir or the Black Cat is easily one of the 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: most famous pieces of late nineteenth century European art, but 8 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: the artist behind it is surprisingly not all that well known, 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: and even though that artist's signature appears on the image 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: both as his signature and the little icon that he 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: developed as like a stamp for his signature, it is 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: actually often assumed that a more famous artist who is 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: associated with the Parisian Fendus Yekla art scene, created it. 14 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: I actually pulled a number of friends about this, including 15 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: friends who are artists, went to art school, and a 16 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: lot of them got this wrong, and several of them 17 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: thought it was to lose Latreik. It's not Tea Fi. 18 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: Steinland was right in the mix of the man Matra 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: Bohemians alongside now famous artists like Edgar Degas and Yes, 20 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,199 Speaker 1: I'll Ride to Trek, but he has never achieved quite 21 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: their level of fame, even though he made a pretty 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: good living with his art and contemporaries thought incredibly highly 23 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: of his work, and his political work because he created 24 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: a lot of political art, which was very important to him, 25 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: is often eclipsed by his commercial images of felines. So 26 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: today we're going to unravel his life. But what that 27 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: really means is that we're going to talk a lot 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: about things that were happening in France and the world politically, 29 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: because his art and his life are very much tied 30 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: to the politics of the day. In fact, we're really 31 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: going to talk more about that than we do about 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: his art work. But we'll talk about cats. I promise 33 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: they are very good cats. 34 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 2: Devil Alexandra Steinland was born in eighteen fifty nine in Lausanne, Switzerland. 35 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: Like a lot of our subjects on the show, his 36 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 2: childhood is not very well documented. His parents encouraged his 37 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: art interests, and after he graduated from the Lease, he 38 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 2: attended Lasan's art school. At least one account says that 39 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 2: he studied theology briefly before focusing on art, but it 40 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 2: is not clear if that's accurate. After art school, he 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 2: moved to Mulos, that's in France and the Alsace region, 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 2: and that's about thirty five kilometers or twenty two miles 43 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 2: from the Swiss border. He worked at a textile factory there, 44 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 2: designing fabric prints, and he studied other art techniques, including 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 2: lithography and engraving. His story kind of picks up when 46 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 2: he's twenty one in eighteen eighty one, and that year 47 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 2: he moved to Paris, and that's a city that he 48 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 2: would be associated with for the rest of his life 49 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 2: and beyond. 50 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: But that move and at a really significant moment in 51 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: French history, and knowing that history might give some inkling 52 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: of who Steinland was already at that young age, ideologically speaking, 53 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: because on July twenty ninth of eighteen eighty one, France 54 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: passed the Lois se la Liberte de la prece the 55 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: Law on the Freedom of the Press, which was a 56 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: huge and important change. So for context, the legal issue 57 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: of modern censorship as it related to print publications has 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: roots in the French Revolution the Revolutions. Seventeen eighty nine 59 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: foundational document Declaration of the Rights of Man states that 60 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: quote men are born and remain free and equal in rights. 61 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: This sounds very familiar to our US listeners. It's because 62 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson helped the Marquis de Lafayette when he drafted 63 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: the first version of this declaration, so it mirrors our 64 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: Declaration of Independence in a lot of ways. The French 65 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: version also included the language quote, the free communication of 66 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: the rights of man. Every citizen may accordingly, speak, write, 68 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,839 Speaker 1: and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such 69 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law. So, 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: in practice, letting everybody say whatever they wanted in a 71 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: country that was a perpetual political powder keg that was 72 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: trickier than the leaders of the French Revolution had really anticipated. 73 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: There was concern that incendiary writing in newspapers and political 74 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: pamphlets was preventing any kind of unity within the nation. 75 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: So just two years after the Declaration of the Rights 76 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: of Man, a new law made it illegal for a 77 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: journalist to publish anti authority material. Anybody who did would 78 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: be charged with libel. Published writing was limited even more 79 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety three, when any writing or speech suggesting 80 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: a return to a monarchy was punishable by death. When 81 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: Robespierre gained political power in seventeen ninety three, rules about 82 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: free speech tightened even more to the point that dissenting 83 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: political ideologies could get a death penalty. The post Robespierre 84 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: government reset things back to the ideals of the Declaration 85 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: of the Rights of Man, but then the same cycle 86 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: started again. Yep, because by seventeen ninety six, the death 87 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,840 Speaker 1: penalty was once again the consequence for advocating against the 88 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: new government. The start of Napoleon's reign in seventeen ninety 89 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: nine offered no relief. He took things even further by 90 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: limiting the number of newspapers that were even allowed to 91 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: publish and instituting a censorship board to review anything that 92 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: those papers produced. So this cycle of freedom of speech 93 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: being reinstated followed by a rollback of that freedom started 94 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: once again when Napoleon was replaced with the Bourbon Restoration 95 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifteen, and censorship laws were once again relaxed. 96 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty four, laws against freedom of the press 97 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: were once again implemented, and the same pattern played out 98 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: again with the overthrow of the Bourbons and the installation 99 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: of King Louis Philippe, a reign which started out with 100 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: a more liberal attitude toward the press, but then soon 101 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: reduced their freedoms. From the beginning of the Second Republic 102 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty eight, in the election of Napoleon the 103 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: Third and throughout the next several decades, the issue of 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: freedom of expression for writers was a huge source of 105 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: tension in France, as advocates for both censorship and total 106 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: freedom pushed farther and farther away from each other. A 107 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: lot of trials played out in the country as writers 108 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: purposely chose to defy the laws and were arrested, were 109 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: put on trial, but then the majority of them were acquitted. 110 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: A lot of journalists and creatives who made art that 111 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: contained political commentary found ways to technically operate within the 112 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: bounds of the law while also clearly speaking out against 113 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: the government. These were three things like satires and developing 114 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: representative characters that stood in for aspects of the government 115 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: or even figures in the government. In other instances, outlawed 116 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: writing was printed outside of the country, so that was 117 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: technically legal, and then it was smuggled in. By this point, 118 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: theater and art had also been included in the legislation 119 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: against government critical works, which just meant that those creators 120 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: in those fields started making art that protested that censorship. 121 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: The French Third Republic began in eighteen seventy with the 122 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: overthrow of Napoleon the Third and the start of President 123 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: Luis Joule Trochu's leadership. In eighteen seventy nine, Jule Grivis 124 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: became the President of France and it was during his 125 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: administration that the aforementioned Law for Liberty of the Press 126 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: was passed. That was in eighteen eighty one. This law 127 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: is considered the foundational legal text of France's freedom of 128 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: the press and expression, and it harkened back to the 129 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: Declaration of the Rights of Man. This law did not 130 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: magically give every journalist, writer, and artist freedom. There were 131 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: still regulations in place about how people could talk about 132 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: the president, for example, but it did represent a huge 133 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: step forward and it opened the door to additional legislation 134 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: that further expanded the freedom of the press. And it 135 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: was in this moment of newfound freedom of expression that 136 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: Teafiel Steinland made his move to relocate to Paris. He 137 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: had long wanted to move there, so in October eighteen 138 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: eighty one, just a few months after the Law of 139 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: the Freedom of the Press was passed, he moved to 140 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: the capitol with his girlfriend, Emilie May. Steinland was once 141 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: again able to find work as a fabric designer in Paris, 142 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: and he and Emily found a place to live in Monmacre. 143 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 2: Coming up, we'll talk about how Steinland fell in with 144 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 2: a circle of other artists in Paris, but before we do, 145 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 2: we will pause for a sponsor break. 146 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: It was an illness actually that ultimately led Tayefield to 147 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: the heart of the art scene in Manmatha. Just a 148 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,439 Speaker 1: few months after the move to Paris, Steinland became quite 149 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: sick and he called for a doctor to visit, and 150 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: that doctor was the older brother of Adolph Leon Wilette. 151 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: Rolette was a painter and illustrator, among other artistic talents, 152 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: and he was right in the center of Parisian artistic life. 153 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: And when Wilette's position brother was tending to Teofield Steinlan 154 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: in the Steinland home, he saw the various pieces of 155 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,599 Speaker 1: art that were around and he suggested an introduction of 156 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: the two artists. These two men immediately hit it off, 157 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: and Wilette, who was Tayofield's lifelong friend, immediately brought Steinlin 158 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:57,199 Speaker 1: into his social circle. 159 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 2: Soon Steinland was a Willette to social gatherings in the city, 160 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 2: and through Willette he became connected to a wide range 161 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 2: of successful artists. One of the places they frequented was 162 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: Le chat Noir. La Chatenoir was a nightclub that opened 163 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 2: in eighteen eighty one in Molmach, Paris, and it was 164 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 2: the brainchild of Rodolf Salis. 165 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: The opening of Le chat Noir is actually pretty important 166 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: because it marks the birth of the modern cabaret. So 167 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: the word cabaret is derived from the Middle French word 168 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: for a small room, camberet, and prior to the opening 169 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: of Le chat Noir, the word cabaret meant something very different. Essentially, 170 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: it meant a place you could buy alcohol. Some such 171 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: places also served food, and some were attached to inns, 172 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: but it was the alcohol that separated a cabaret from 173 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: a restaurant, for example. But Sally envisioned a place where 174 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: people could eat and drink and see entertainment, and in 175 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: the late nineteenth century Paris that meant a heady combination 176 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: of opulent design, very rich cuisine, and an assortment of 177 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: interesting acts, all introduced by Salie, and a variety of 178 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: performers graced the stage at Le cha Noir, so there 179 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,079 Speaker 1: were musical numbers. There were poetry readings, there were comedy skits. 180 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: Kind of anything you could think of that somebody could 181 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: do as a performance probably showed up there, and most 182 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: of them had this edge of rebellion or subversion to them. 183 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,559 Speaker 1: This was a groundbreaking concept at the time and it 184 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: was instantly popular. Sally is credited with starting an entirely 185 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,959 Speaker 1: new form of entertainment, and a lot of venues that 186 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: were looking to copy his successful format started popping up 187 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,079 Speaker 1: around Paris in the years that followed. The Moulin Rouge, 188 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 1: for example, which is wildly famous, opened in eighteen eighty nine, 189 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: eight years after Sali opened Le Chaon Noir, and incidentally, 190 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: Steinland's friend Willette was the architect of the Moulin Rouge. 191 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 2: The spirit of expression, freshly stoked by the freedom of 192 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 2: the press law, was central to the molmar To Art circle. 193 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 2: One of the prior regulations on press that had rolled 194 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 2: back was the requirement for any publication to pay a 195 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 2: fee and register if it wanted to print material for circulation. 196 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 2: That requirement was removed and new papers sprung up, including 197 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 2: one run by the proprietor of Le chat Noir. Sally 198 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 2: started publication of Gazette du chat Noir in eighteen eighty two, 199 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 2: the year after he opened the cabaret and to Field, 200 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 2: Steinland became a regular contributor. His first illustration for the 201 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 2: paper appeared on September second, eighteen eighty three. He went 202 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 2: on to provide at least six dozen other drawings for 203 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 2: the paper over the years. Yeah. 204 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 1: Often these were like cute, little sort of cartoony drawings 205 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: that would accompany poems or songs in the paper, or 206 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: they would kind of be like a cute social commentary 207 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: on the day. His style is really really unique. It's 208 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,839 Speaker 1: a little cartoony, but it has this edge to it. 209 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: I love it. The Gazette de Chaenoir was not the 210 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: only cabaret paper that Steinland worked with, though recontour Aristide 211 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: Bruon opened his own cabaret called Le Merleton, and Le 212 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,239 Speaker 1: Merleton had its own paper of the same name. Steinland 213 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: was also a regular contributor to its pages, again mostly 214 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: creating illustrations to accompany the songs that Bruant wrote and 215 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: published in that paper. 216 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 2: Although Steinland was deeply ingrained in the Molmarch arts scene 217 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 2: and was very committed to it, he was also drawn 218 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 2: to politics and the social movements that were very active 219 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:40,839 Speaker 2: in Paris at the time. He had moved to the 220 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 2: city as restrictions on free speech were lifted and a 221 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 2: lot of people who had been exiled moved back. At 222 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 2: the same time, he befriended a lot of them. A 223 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 2: lot of them were people who had been exiled for 224 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 2: supporting the Paris Commune and had been granted amnesty in 225 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty he found himself aligned with anarchist and socialist 226 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,719 Speaker 2: groups in France, and his art started to reflect that 227 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 2: ideology as well. 228 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: And one of the most obvious instances of this alignment 229 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: was Steinland's involvement with Ernest Gegou and Charles Mulatto. Gegoo 230 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: was an anarchist and a publisher, and his weekly paper 231 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: Latac published columns that increasingly called for an abandonment of 232 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: almost all other political stances because they were all faulty 233 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: in one way or another. We've talked about. 234 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 2: Worker demonstrations in the US in the nineteenth century, and 235 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 2: their protests inspired similar actions in France. In eighteen ninety, 236 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: the first May Day was planned. This was a worker 237 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 2: strike that voiced the demands for eight hours of work 238 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 2: eight hours of sleep and eight hours of leisure. This protest, 239 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 2: planned for May first, was covered in a lot of 240 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 2: political papers and in Lattech as well, and then Gagoo's paper. 241 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 2: An article by Charles Mulatto was printed in the lead 242 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 2: up to Mayday that gave instruction for making bombs. Both 243 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 2: the publisher and writer were arrested and charged with inciting violence, 244 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 2: and they were found guilty and sentenced to fifteen months 245 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 2: in prison. 246 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: While the two anarchists were serving their sentence, Tayofield Steinland 247 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: visited them in prison and he made some drawings while 248 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: he was there, and this led to a collaboration of 249 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: the three men, which was a book titled Prison fan 250 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: de jegle souvenir de Pelagie or Prison at the End 251 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: of the Century Memories of Pelagie. Pelagie was the name 252 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: of the prison they were in, and this book has 253 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: a really interesting take on the idea of a prison narrative. 254 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: It isn't really so much about the horrors of incarceration. 255 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: It's more of an exposee about how ludicrous the entire 256 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: legal system of France was in the view of Gegoo 257 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: and Malatteau, and it opens with quote prefaces are rarely read. 258 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: We believe, however, that we must explain our motive in 259 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: portraying our owns insignificant person. Prison, however, benign never represents 260 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: an el Dorado, and Pelagie has grown darkened with age. However, 261 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: even under current conditions, how many dispossessed people more interesting 262 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: than certain political speculators would like to find refuge there. 263 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: The halo of martyrdom claimed by ambitious writers has allowed 264 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: them to exploit the feelings of the masses whom they 265 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: inwardly despised. This fetishism of individuals is not yet extinct. 266 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: We believe we are doing useful work by combating it 267 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: with laughter. As captives, laughter is moreover our only weapon, 268 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: our only distraction. We hope that the body humor scattered 269 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: throughout this book, alongside serious ideas, will not cast a 270 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: negative light on the latter. While mocking the prison where 271 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: we are incarcerated, the magistrates who threw us in, the 272 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: jailers who hold us there, and the motley crew of 273 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: politicians we have encountered, we had a duty not to 274 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: spare ourselves, and that is what we have done. May 275 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: this strip bear forever the prestige of political martyrdom. 276 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 2: One of the surprising things about this book is how 277 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 2: many cat drawings are in it. Stilin loved cats and 278 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 2: loved to draw them. Understandably, even today you can buy 279 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 2: books that are just compilations of his cat drawings, and 280 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 2: cat sketches are scattered throughout this account of life in prison. 281 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 2: Holly counted at least twenty three cat illustrations. Some of 282 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,199 Speaker 2: them are just dropped into larger scenes. They're random cats 283 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 2: who don't seem particularly meaningful. But one of them is 284 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 2: a character in the book, and her arrival is described 285 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 2: by the authors this way quote. Then we had a 286 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 2: new companion, and this companion was a delightful little cat 287 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 2: that Malato's wife brought us in her work bag. Pelagia, 288 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 2: as she was christened, grew up in the horror of 289 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 2: the dungeons and didn't miss a single bite. How many 290 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 2: times she slept on and underneath them. Too sharp reproaches, 291 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 2: later corrections administered paternally according to the axiom, he who 292 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 2: loves well punishes well, gradually led her towards better habits. 293 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 2: A newspaper carefully unfolded and held up by a chair 294 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 2: in a corner of the room served as a safe place. So, 295 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 2: just for clarity, the reason that she couldn't sleep on 296 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 2: their beds or under their beds was because she would 297 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 2: easily be seen there. The men worked out this whole 298 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 2: elaborate system and trained her to it so she could 299 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 2: be in their cell and sit on their laps as 300 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 2: they ate to be fed from their plates, and then 301 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 2: have a safe out of sight spot to curl up 302 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 2: in during the day. 303 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: She is depicted. However, as the book goes on in 304 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 1: the illustrations on pillows a lot, so it seems as 305 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: though little Pelagia kind of became an open secret in 306 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: the prison, and the rules about her got looser and 307 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: looser as her time with the men wore on. 308 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 2: This book also mentions the day that Steinland visited them 309 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,959 Speaker 2: quote in the dim light of bruon a second figure 310 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 2: advanced discreetly, preoccupied with holding an enormous tomcat in his arms, 311 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 2: the head keeper's cat captured on the way, Steinland cried, gagoo. 312 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: The brilliant illustrator of. 313 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 2: Le chat Noir shook the outstretched hands, then, after a 314 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 2: few words exchanged, sat down, took a sheet of paper 315 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 2: and a pencil from his pocket, and immediately began sketching 316 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 2: animals and people. 317 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, so he was very clearly already known both as 318 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: an artist and in anarchist circles. Coming up, we will 319 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: talk about one of the show's favorite subjects, and that 320 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: is more cats. But first we're going to hear from 321 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: the sponsors that keep stuff you missed a history class 322 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: going so to circle back to cats. When we said 323 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: Steinland loved them, that's putting it pretty mildly. He loved cats. 324 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: He regularly fed the strays of mamarcles. He came to 325 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: view the cats of Paris as the mascots of the 326 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: Bohemian movement, wild, free and alluring. He made sculptures of cats, 327 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: He sketched cats, he painted cats. When he took poster commissions, 328 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,720 Speaker 1: which is where a lot of his money was coming from, 329 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: he often added a cat or two into the art. 330 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: His poster for campaign Francis de Chocolais dete that's French 331 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: company of chocolates and teas, features his beloved Emily as 332 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: well as their daughter Colette and a black cat in 333 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: the foreground. Similarly, the advertisement for Les pure de la 334 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,880 Speaker 1: vengean stair lise that's pure sterilized milk from La Vengeun 335 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: features his daughter Collette again drinking a bowl of milk, 336 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 1: while three cats, a gray tabby, a solid black and 337 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: a calico paw at the girl's red dress. In some instances, 338 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: it was obvious that cats should be included in his 339 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: commercial art, like the art that he completed for Clinique Chahoon, 340 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: which was a veterinary clinic, is a very beautiful poster 341 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: that features a young woman surrounded by both dogs and cats, 342 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: and his non commercial paintings frequently featured only cats. His 343 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: work Apotheosis of Cats, which was painted in eighteen ninety, 344 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 1: features a swarm of cats, all traversing over a city, 345 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: seemingly drawn to an immense cat in the far background, 346 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: which appears as a silhouette backlit by the moon. Even 347 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,640 Speaker 1: when a cat was not part of the active image 348 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: of a work that he did, it sometimes appeared as 349 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 1: a sort of iconic signature. One of the lithographs he 350 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: created is called Young Lovers Embracing in the Street, and 351 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: it shows a sketch of exactly what the title suggests, 352 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: but in the white border that frames the main image, 353 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: so not interacting with the image at all, there's a 354 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: black cat that's just shown racing across the very bottom. 355 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: The quote every dog has his day, but the knights 356 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: are reserved for the cats is often attributed to Steinlan 357 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: allthough so there's no real evidence that I could find 358 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: that he ever wrote or said that, but his work 359 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: sure does seem to support that sentiment. 360 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 2: As the eighteen nineties continued, Dafield Steinland continued to create 361 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 2: illustrations for papers and magazines, but he started working more 362 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 2: for political publications instead of just cabaret papers. He started 363 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 2: working with the socialist paper Le Chambard in eighteen ninety three. 364 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 2: A lot of his political work was focused on workers' rights, 365 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 2: as well as the problems of the justice system and 366 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 2: the military. We mentioned his commercial poster work for a dairy, 367 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 2: which is in contrast to some of his protest work 368 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 2: about adulterated milk in France. We've talked about tainted milk 369 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 2: in the US on the show that aired back in 370 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, but France had its own problems with 371 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:55,120 Speaker 2: adulterated milk being sold to poor families whose children were 372 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 2: often made sick from it. Steinland participated in a special 373 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 2: public criticizing the dairy industry for selling spoiled Milk, along 374 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 2: with more than four dozen other artists. The title of 375 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 2: this translated to the licensed poisoners, the milk falsifiers. 376 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,639 Speaker 1: But just as those cycles of freedom of the press 377 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: and then a rescinding of those freedoms had played out 378 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: numerous times in French history before Teafil was there, in 379 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: the early eighteen nineties, new laws were put into place 380 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: to curb anarchist writing and activities. There were three of 381 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: these laws. They're known collectively as the Loi se rat 382 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: or villainous laws, and they were ruled out after a 383 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: non lethal bombing happened at the Chamber of Deputies. So 384 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: the first law forbid anarchist publications. The second law was 385 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 1: a bit nebulous, as it named a crime that was 386 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: called the understanding, which was supposed to somehow encapsulate the 387 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: state of being an anarchist. Maybe seriously, it is a 388 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: very confusing legal concept. It actually tied up this legislation 389 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:10,120 Speaker 1: for a long time because various politicians struggled to define 390 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 1: what they were getting at in this law. The third 391 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: law made it explicitly illegal to engage in any anarchist activities. 392 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: These laws are very complex in their context, and their 393 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: execution and their impact. But in relation to tefil Steinlan 394 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: there were two very obvious effects. One he started publishing 395 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: his art under the pseudonym Petitpier, and two he eventually 396 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: fled Paris for Munich. 397 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 2: The decision to leave Paris has to have been difficult 398 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,720 Speaker 2: because in terms of his art career, things were just 399 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 2: really starting to take off. He had his first solo 400 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,959 Speaker 2: exhibition in the spring of eighteen ninety four, and if 401 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 2: he weren't involved in anti government political groups, he probably 402 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 2: would have continued to enjoy success as a painter and 403 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 2: a poster artist. But if he placed himself in the 404 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 2: public eye with his art, he knew he would probably 405 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 2: be arrested because of his ties to anarchists. So in 406 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 2: July of eighteen ninety four he went to Germany and 407 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 2: started producing art for a socialist magazine there called Simple Sisimus. 408 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 2: While he was away, a large group of activists in 409 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 2: Paris were put on trial for charges of anarchy in 410 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,119 Speaker 2: the event now known as the Trial of thirty. That 411 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 2: trial was supposed to show how large and dangerous the 412 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 2: anarchist network of France was and provide legitimizing context for 413 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 2: the Las Celeratte, but it failed. All but a handful 414 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 2: of the defendants were acquitted. With the failure of the trial, Steinland, 415 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 2: like other activists, thought it was safe to return to Paris, 416 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 2: and he did that in October. He had only been 417 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 2: away for a few months and had visited Norway in 418 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 2: addition to Germany. 419 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, at that point it wasn't like the laws all 420 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: went away, but everybody was kind of like, you don't 421 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: know what you're doing with these It don't make sense, 422 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: and you don't know how to enforce them, so it's fine. 423 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: The year after all of that upheaval, though, was very 424 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: busy for Steinland, both professionally and personally. He jumped right 425 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: back into working with an assortment of socialist papers. He 426 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: had a lot of commissions for artwork for posters and songbooks, 427 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: and he illustrated the cover of Les Soliloque du Povre, 428 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: a poetry book by Jehann Richtusdefield. 429 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 2: Had remained a Swiss citizen up to this point, but 430 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 2: now he finally applied to become a naturalized French citizen. 431 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 2: He and the woman he had moved to Paris with, 432 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 2: Emily May, had lived as husband and wife throughout their 433 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 2: time in France and had their daughter, Colette, but they'd 434 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 2: never legally gotten married. They had a small but official 435 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 2: wedding in eighteen ninety five at the eighteenth Arrondissement government offices. 436 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety six, Steinland was commissioned to create the 437 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: poster that many of our listeners would recognize. That is 438 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: tourne de chat noir de Rudolph Salis. That translates to 439 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: tour of Rudolf Sali's chat Noir. The cabaret acs from 440 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: that nightclub would tour and this simple but striking graphic, 441 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: with its black, gold and red color scheme, was instantly recognizable, 442 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: and it has endured to still be in print one 443 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,480 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty years later on all manner of things, 444 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,119 Speaker 1: from art prints to coffee cups and get socks. You 445 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: can get kind of anything, literally anything to to Monmartre 446 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: and Paris. Find a thing that isn't printed with it, 447 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: it's hard to do. New spoofs of it pop up 448 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: seemingly every day in pop culture, featuring everything from bats 449 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: to demagorgans. Tamfield Steinland Shirley could not have anticipated the 450 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: life this particular poster would have, and he was soon 451 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: moving on to other projects. Incidentally, though the nightclub and 452 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: touring company Les Chat Noir did not have the same longevity. 453 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: Is this piece of art that all shut down just 454 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: the year after this poster was made. 455 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 2: Other places had the same name later, Like, if you 456 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 2: go look for pictures, you will find pictures of other establishments. 457 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that at the end. 458 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just saying for people who are maybe confused 459 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 2: in this moment. Steinland also has ties to the Dreyfus affair, 460 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 2: which we covered as a two parter in twenty twenty one. 461 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 2: That was the scandal in which Alfred Dreyfuss, Jewish French 462 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 2: artillery officer, was convicted of treason and sentenced to life 463 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 2: in prison, although another man, an officer named Ferdinand Whilston 464 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 2: est Hasi, was the true culprit. Steinland was very, unsurprisingly 465 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 2: to me, publicly vocal in his criticism of the military 466 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 2: and the cover up regarding the true details. 467 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: Of this case. Yeah, if you listen to that two 468 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: parter which Tracy did the research and writing on, a 469 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: lot of people were pretty vocal about that. But Steinland, 470 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: being very associated already with kind of incendiary political groups, 471 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: it is not at all surprising that he was really 472 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: angry about it. At the start of the twentieth century, 473 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: Steinland continued to illustrate for political papers, including the anarchist 474 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: papers Les Ton Nouveau and Lasieteuburg. And Steinland started to 475 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: write for these papers as well as illustrate for them, 476 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: which was just the beginning of a new level of 477 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: activism for him. In nineteen oh two, he was one 478 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: of the earliest crusaders for France to have a union 479 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: for painters and draftsmen. The General Confederation of Labor in 480 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: France was only a few years old at the time, 481 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: and Steinland wanted artists to be recognized as laborers as well. 482 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 1: The General Confederation did add artists to its roster in 483 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: nineteen oh five, and Teafiel Steinland gave a speech at 484 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: that ceremony. In nineteen oh four and nineteen oh five, 485 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: Steinlan extended his connections in both the art and political 486 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: worlds by joining the Society of Draftsmen and Humorists and 487 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: the Society of Friends of the Russian People and Annexed Peoples. 488 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 2: Steinland's style and subject matter shifted significantly at the onset 489 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: of World War One, He'd often drawn with a sort 490 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 2: of whimsical feel to his work, even when he illustrated 491 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 2: the Prison Memoir, but his desire to use his art 492 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 2: to inform the public about the realities of war led 493 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 2: him to a more serious, darker tone. Styland was a pacifist. 494 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 2: He made it a point to visit battlefield so that 495 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 2: he could sketch what he saw there. His work includes 496 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 2: wounded soldiers, refugees, and the people whose lives were turned 497 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 2: upside down and exploited to provide for the war effort. 498 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,479 Speaker 2: While he had been commenting both with words and art 499 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 2: on the inequalities of the world in the plight of 500 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 2: the working class, his wartime work took on a more 501 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 2: urgent tone. Styland's work about the war was never about 502 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 2: active battle scenes. It also didn't directly involve politics. It 503 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 2: portrayed all the people who were often overlooked, like the 504 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 2: poor children and women, and show the impact of the 505 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 2: war on them. This is really very much in line 506 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 2: with his political views, which always centered the importance of 507 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 2: the common man and the idea of equality and freedom 508 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 2: from oppression and exploitation. One of these works, for example, 509 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 2: is titled The Exodus, and it's a simple but dramatic 510 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 2: charcoal sketch of a family of refugees carrying their belongings 511 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 2: as they walk searching for safe haven. Other families fill 512 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,719 Speaker 2: in the background with slightly lighter shading, and it's an 513 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 2: image of Belgium being evacuated after a German attack. This 514 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 2: image has also been called the March of the Orphans, 515 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 2: and this and other drawings of wartime tableaux, including portraits 516 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 2: of grieving women standing over coffins that are draped in 517 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 2: French flags, were made into etchings so they could be 518 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 2: sold in runs of prints, because they really wanted a 519 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 2: lot of people to see this. And once the war ended, 520 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 2: Steinland continued to work with a variety of socialist and 521 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 2: anarchist papers as an illustrator occasional writer. The end of 522 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 2: the artist's life seems abrupt. Teyofil Alexandra Steinland died in 523 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty three. His ashes were interred at sam Vinsant 524 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 2: Cemetery in Molmarch. 525 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: He was sixty four. 526 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 2: And if there's a cause of death recorded somewhere, Holly 527 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 2: was not able to find it, or any mention of 528 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 2: an illness or an underlying condition. 529 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's all just kind of like he was living 530 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,640 Speaker 1: his life, he was making his art and then died. 531 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: Two months after Steinland's death in February nineteen twenty four, 532 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: an obituary for him ran in Arts and Decoration magazine, 533 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: written by Mattlack Price. Price was a writer and a 534 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: professor at the American School of Design and the Rhode 535 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: Island School of Design, and he was considered an authority 536 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,479 Speaker 1: on poster art. He wrote a book on the subject 537 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven, and his write up about Steinlan is 538 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,680 Speaker 1: filled with admiration and the sense of loss of something 539 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: truly great in the art world. One section of it 540 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: reads quote to a great many artists and amateurs in 541 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: the graphic arts, Steinland has given and will always give 542 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: more real joy and satisfaction than most artists who have 543 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: risen since his zenith. Nor will Steinland's art deteriorate with time. 544 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 1: It is too real, too sincere, too literary and dramatic 545 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: in its quality. Another cycle of appreciation will revive Steinland 546 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: as one of the old masters, and again students will 547 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: find in his drawings and lithographs some at least of 548 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: the old thrill. Steinland is dead, perhaps unfortunately for us, 549 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: all much of his influence is dead today in the 550 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: field of the graphic arts. It is not that Steinland's 551 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: art is out of date, but rather that it is 552 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: so much better, so much more living and vivid than 553 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: most of the work today, that it is a little 554 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: disquieting to have it about as a reminder. It disturbs 555 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: our illusions of progress. We ought to have done much 556 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: more than we have since eighteen ninety. 557 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:04,000 Speaker 2: The legacy of Steinlan's work is varied. On the one hand, 558 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 2: outside of art circles, his war art, which is arguably 559 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 2: his most important work, is not very well known at all, 560 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:15,239 Speaker 2: but his poster art is revered. His image of La 561 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 2: Chatnoir is instantly recognizable. It's helped sustain interest in the 562 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 2: bohemian nightclub scene of Paris. As we mentioned, it's been 563 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 2: spoofed by innumerable artists around the world. Because of that 564 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 2: ongoing interest, there have been several copycat venues that have 565 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 2: popped up in recent years to capitalize on the fascination 566 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 2: that the public has with the era and with La 567 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 2: chat Noir specifically, and a chat Noir immersive theater experience 568 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,800 Speaker 2: is set to open in London this month. If you 569 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 2: are listening when this episode drops stage by the group 570 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 2: the Lost Estate. 571 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 1: We didn't mention it specifically in the episode, but there 572 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 1: were additional locations that were opened of le Chon Noir 573 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 1: during Steinland's time, but they all folded and now we 574 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:09,919 Speaker 1: have many around the worlds. But they are homages truly. Yeah, 575 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: but all are you know, created and opened with incredible 576 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: love for the legacy of Leshaw. More. Do you want 577 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,399 Speaker 1: to talk about coffee for a minute? And listener mail yes, 578 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: I always want to talk about coffee. This is from 579 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: our listener Caro, who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy. I 580 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: started playing your recent episode on Melita Benz in the 581 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: creation of coffee filters, assuming I had never used the 582 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 1: company's products. It wasn't until you mentioned their signature red 583 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: and green packaging that I realized I had, in fact 584 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: used those coffee filters several times. A few years ago, 585 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: I started seeing a self professed coffee snob who only 586 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 1: made pour over and didn't have a programmable coffee machine. 587 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: I usually woke up before them, so I was grogglely 588 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 1: learning being in water ratios, thinking this would all be 589 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,720 Speaker 1: so much easier if I had some caffeine in my system. 590 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,840 Speaker 1: Lo and behold. I was using Melina filters, but I 591 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: was too sleepy to notice. Thankfully, I was able to 592 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,799 Speaker 1: look past the caffeine logistics because that coffee snob has 593 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: become the love of my life. We've been together for 594 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:17,920 Speaker 1: three years. I get choked up over this makes me 595 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 1: so happy. We've been together three years and are moving 596 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 1: in together in a few weeks. Congratulations to the two 597 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,439 Speaker 1: of you. I hope it is a wonderful time living together. 598 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: Caro writes, I'm still up earlier than them, so they 599 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: have since bought a programmable coffee pot see compromise. It's love. 600 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,279 Speaker 1: We try to treasure slow cups of pour over on 601 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: Saturday mornings. Though attached his pet tax or pictures of 602 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,840 Speaker 1: our cat, Charlie. I've tried to play your podcast for 603 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: him to make him better informed about the world, but 604 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:47,920 Speaker 1: he's more interested in demonstrating how fast he can run 605 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 1: from one end of the apartment to the other. He's 606 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,320 Speaker 1: more of an athlete than a scholar. Thanks to the 607 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: great podcast, Caro. This cat is so cute and he 608 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,799 Speaker 1: looks like exactly my flavor of trouble Yay, I love 609 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 1: a little wild acting care at They're the best. Yeah, 610 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: I'm I'm surprised at how how common Melita Filters are 611 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,760 Speaker 1: still m M, even though I know they're a huge company. 612 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 1: I don't know. I in my head, I'm like, but 613 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,240 Speaker 1: in Europe, but no, Yeah, literally on my local grocery 614 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:16,919 Speaker 1: store shelves there they are. Yeah. 615 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,759 Speaker 2: I had a mental image, like as soon as I 616 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 2: got to the like the brand name part, I had 617 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,279 Speaker 2: a mental image of like the color scheme and the 618 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 2: logo and all of that, And when I looked at it, 619 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 2: I was like, Yeah, that is exactly what I thought. 620 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, that's the one. That is the one. Also 621 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: shout out to our listener and Defined Destinations traveler Scott, 622 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,280 Speaker 1: who texted me this morning about the Melita Ben's podcast 623 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:45,200 Speaker 1: because you know, we all love a little coffee. Yeah, Scott, 624 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,960 Speaker 1: that brightened my day. So if you would like to 625 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 1: write to us, you can do so at History podcast 626 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:55,720 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com. Uh, you can go to mystonhistory 627 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,200 Speaker 1: dot com if you want to see our show notes 628 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:02,759 Speaker 1: for the episodes. And if you haven't subscribed to the 629 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,279 Speaker 1: podcast and you would like to, that's easiest pie the 630 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,680 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or wherever it is you listen. 631 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,760 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 632 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 633 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.