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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchIn 1890s Paris, a black cat on a poster rarely meant only bad luck. In Montmartre, the cabaret Le Chat Noir made the black cat the emblem of its identity, and Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s 1896 posters for the venue are the clearest example of the animal being used to signal artistic modernity. The shift from folklore to fashion is a useful way to read these images, but it is an interpretation rather than a documented turning point. The museum sources show new associations attached to the cat. They do not show that older superstitions disappeared, or that the change happened the same way across Europe.
Where the black cat came from: the Le Chat Noir cabaret
Le Chat Noir was a café concert in Montmartre and a gathering place for Parisian artistic bohemia. Rodolphe Salis founded it in 1881. Its performers, writers and painters made it one of the most visible modern venues in the neighbourhood, and its name and imagery gave the black cat a new job: it stood for a crowd that rejected conventional respectability.
Why a cat sold a cabaret
The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya’s essay on the cat in the modern poster describes posters as a popular advertising medium, designed with bold imagery, typography and colour to catch passers-by. Cats appeared often in these campaigns because they felt familiar and friendly. Black cats, the museum notes, could also signal artistic modernity, and it links that imagery directly to Le Chat Noir.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reads Steinlen’s cats through a social lens. In its account, cats in Montmartre became symbols of bohemia, including a refusal of bourgeois domestication and of social norms. That is a helpful historical reading of Steinlen’s Montmartre world. It is not a universal meaning for black cats in every culture, and it should not be read that way. The Met also notes that Steinlen’s interest in cats was personal as well as artistic: he fed local cats and included them in his advertising work.
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Who made the Le Chat Noir posters
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen worked as a poster artist and lithographer. His best-known Le Chat Noir imagery dates to 1896. The Met places these posters alongside a wider body of work concerned with performers, working-class life and politics, so it is better to see the cat posters as one strand of a broad practice than as a single decorative image.
Posters as public art and collectable paper
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, in its account of the exhibition L’Affichomania: The Passion for French Posters, describes the colour poster as a fusion of art and commerce. Posters of the period advertised cigarette papers and milk as well as stage stars and cabarets. They were also fragile: they faced weather, rival bills and removal. The same account describes a poster-collecting craze during the Belle Époque itself, which is why surviving sheets now sit in museum collections and on the decor market at the same time.
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From superstition to sophistication: what the evidence supports
The title’s arc is a helpful frame, but it needs careful wording. The sources support the following points and no more:
- Supported: In 1890s Paris posters, the black cat carried bohemian and modern associations, most visibly through Le Chat Noir.
- Supported: Cats in these posters were both familiar commercial imagery and, in the case of black cats, a sign of artistic modernity.
- Not established: That superstition vanished as these associations spread.
- Not established: That this was a universal cultural transition. The Met’s reading is specific to Montmartre and to Steinlen’s circle.
Documented Steinlen and Le Chat Noir works
Museum records describe individual objects, and they differ in purpose, date, medium and size. Do not treat every “Le Chat Noir” poster as the same image, issue or printing.
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- MAKES A GREAT GIFT - Whether you need a special gift for friends or family or looking for yourself, our wall poster is suitable for living room decor, bedroom wall art, bathroom decor and office posters wall decoration. This cool wall art will light up your home, it is the modern way to brighten up any space, each and every piece comes with its own unique story. We believe in delivering impeccable quality prints that last a lifetime.
- MADE IN THE USA and OFFICIALLY LICENSED - This poster is professionally printed in the USA on premium acid-free paper for a high color aesthetic and years of fade resistant enjoyment of your artwork. The attractive images come from our vast curated collection of officially licensed and custom designed art prints.
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- FOR ARTISTS ART ENTHUSIASTS Vintage posters of absinthe art by Leonetto Cappiello French or Italian Poster Le Chat Noir. Cool and elegant liquor and wine. Classy, retro and aesthetic room decor. Large Western wall poster print. Hanging photo wall decoration. Rustic 70s, 80s and 90s indie posters. Coquette party aura picture gift from a film or movie scene. For someone who likes Friends Jouets poster called Aux Buttes Chaumont Jouets Canvas. Cognac prints and framed artwork gifts.
| Work | Date | Artist and printer | Medium and dimensions | Holding institution or record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salis | 1896 | Steinlen (per the Met essay) | Chromolithograph; 53.5 × 37.76 inches (as identified in the Met essay) | Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University |
| Prochainement la très illustre Compagnie du Chat Noir | 1896 | Steinlen; printed by Charles Verneau | Color lithograph on wove paper mounted on muslin; sheet 62.1 × 39.2 cm | National Gallery of Art |
| Poster for “Le Chat Noir – Ce Soir” | 1896 | Steinlen | Not stated in the museum record consulted | Philadelphia Museum of Art |
| Tournée du Chat Noir | 1896 | Steinlen; made in France | Lithograph; 52 7/8 × 36 5/8 inches | Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| Collection du Chat Noir | 1898 | Associated with Steinlen (Getty CONA authority record) | Color lithograph; dimensions not stated in the record consulted | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; record concerns the sale of Rodolphe Salis’s collection |
The National Gallery of Art’s record describes Prochainement in detail: red and black text, a black cat on a red block, and a halo-like red shape behind it. That description is useful for matching a print to the museum object. The text on the poster is printed wording, not a modern speaker’s statement.
How to check a poster’s identity
- Match the artist, printer, date and purpose to a museum record before accepting the title.
- Compare the medium and size with the record, remembering that the Met, NGA and LACMA figures belong to different works.
- Check whether the seller calls the item a reproduction or an original. Ask for evidence if an original is claimed.
- Be cautious with wording that implies an original vintage sheet without stated provenance.
Buying a Le Chat Noir poster
For most readers, the realistic option is a reproduction. Museum custom-print services exist for some Steinlen works. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s record for its “Le Chat Noir – Ce Soir” poster points to a custom-print resource, which shows a museum print pathway but does not confirm current stock or pricing. Marketplace listings vary, so check that the seller describes the item as a reproduction, states the size and medium, and names the source image.
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Frame a print only after you know its exact dimensions. Books and exhibition catalogues on Steinlen, Art Nouveau and Belle Époque poster art are a good route into the subject, but check current editions before buying.
The cat’s story on these posters is a story of a Paris cabaret, a working artist and a city that had just learned to read its own walls. The black cat was a sign of modern identity in that moment, and the folklore that came before it still shapes how many people see the animal today.
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