The breathtaking Yvette Gilbert performs in the background, as a rather
large, somewhat less enchanting lady glares menacingly at her weary,
browbeaten husband and states, "Maybe this is how you like them!"
True to form Steinlen delivers with his artistic genius, another humorous
slice of Parisian life at the close of the century. Shown here in
performance "Yvette Guilbert was one of the most famous of all
the artistes of the Paris cafe-concerts in the late 1890's. She was
renowned for her act in which she recited, rather than sang, songs
with most scurrilous of words, clad in elegant but revealing dresses
and wearing long black gloves. She would accompany songs with expressive
gestures from her arms emphasized by these elbow-length gloves"
(Weston No.4 1998, 43)
"The years around the turn of the century in Paris were the
great periods of the 'artist-reporter' those painters who found
their inspiration in the events of every-day life. One of the very
greatest of these was Steinlen. With an eye for movement and gesture,
with the ability to translate the scenes of the cafes, bars and
street corners into pictorial composition, in his drawings he created
a pattern of expressive shape, swift shading and telling details
of facial expression which is redolent with the whole atmosphere
of the period" (Weston
No.5 1984, 28)
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