La Rue 1904

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen made this drawing, La Rue, with what looks like charcoal or maybe crayon. I love that it's a scene full of people, but rendered with this sketchy, unfinished quality. It makes the whole thing feel like a fleeting moment, a snapshot of a busy street. Looking closely, you can see how the texture of the paper shows through. Steinlen hasn't tried to hide the process at all. The lines are sometimes heavy, sometimes light, creating a sense of depth and movement. The smudging around the figures softens the edges, making them feel more alive and less like static portraits. Check out the newspaper boy on the left, his limbs and torso are full of energy! Steinlen's contemporary, Toulouse Lautrec also captured the spirit of Parisian life, but there's something more intimate and immediate about Steinlen's work. It feels like he's inviting us to experience the city alongside him, with all its hustle and bustle, its beauty and its grit. For me art is all about capturing a feeling, so this is it.