Mon Petit Homme 

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen created "Mon Petit Homme" with lithographic crayon and watercolor on paper. Steinlen emerged as an important social observer during the Belle Époque in France. The image depicts a bourgeois couple frozen in a doorway. While the man’s hand is on the door handle, his female companion has her arm firmly around his. The title, “My Little Man,” invites speculation on her possessive gesture. What does it mean when a woman infantilizes a man, especially in the context of a culture embroiled in anxieties about masculinity and class? While Steinlen made a name for himself depicting the lives of the working class, here he turns his attention to the bourgeoisie. He subtly satirizes their habits and pretensions. The image creates a tension between private, domestic intimacy and the social performance of class identity in public. It also seems to evoke a timeless dynamic within intimate relationships, where control and affection intertwine.