American Crescent Cycles par Winthrop Ramsdell 1899
La Tournée du Chat Noir par Thoéphile Steinlen. 1896. Tin plate.
Cats That Come Back. At a poster store in Montmartre you spent your final few euros on cards depicting the lithographic advertising styles of the late 19th and early 20th century. You took photos of the outside of the poster store, and had one taken of yourself and your youngest son, a part of you indulging in some late-afternoon fantasy that you were the proprietors of said store. What fun, surrounded by art originally intended to part one from one’s cash – and a hundred years later it’s still doing the same, only selling itself this time around. What a sale, what a fine boutique did those Parisian streets make for you. For it’s easy to get lost in the culture, art and spirit of expression when it surrounds you in all its breath-taking vibrancy. There is a deep yearning. A searching back through history to find a part of yourself you may recognise. Print advertising is consumerism’s cocky high art. A brassy exhibition of wonders. A sly yet alluring gallery that invites you inside. It’s everything you love and loathe in the same moment. You pitch these paper testimonials to commercialism with all the integrity and enthusiasm of a loving archivist. But you are also an artist. Those Paris streets and galleries and windows and walls whispered to your heart. Hell, sometimes they yelled at you, told you they remembered, recalled your angels & fey (born from the snippets and slivers of glossy ads in magazines in case you didn’t know), the exhibitions, the foreign shores, the hours spent holding brushes and conjuring colours. You sold it well, they said. You made an impression. You left a mark. People were happy. Sometimes that’s the least you have to do. From: The Artist and the Four Hats
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- A La Place Clichy par Lem 1899
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- Amara Blanqui par Nover
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- Schweppes lime juice
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- Absinthe Pernot par Leonetto Cappiello c. 1902
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- Cacao Lacté par Lucien Lefèvre c. 1850
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- Collection du Chat Noir par Théophile Steinlen 1898
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- Hovis Bread 1903
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- Golden Vim 1930s
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- Quinquina Dubonnet par Cheret 1896
Job par Alfons Mucha 1896
Job done?
For a bit
Too busy writing
To try and score another hit
It’s a circle you see
A merry go round
You jump on and off at certain points
feet touch the ground
Back up again
Always looking for those special connections
Palooka N° 5
Words, Angel & Fey artwork by the editor.
Colour Angels & Fey scans taken from Palooka issue 5.
Lithograph adverts scanned from commercial postcards and tin plates are shown for illustrative purposes only. No infringement of copyright is intended.
Cat count: we spotted at least 26 images of cats in this blog post. A new TVTA record!
