Open Call for Toulouse-Lautrec Inspired Posters

TL poster banner

Along with the opening weekend of special exhibition Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque, we kicked off a poster contest inspired by the artist. We want to see your modern-day creations using the exhibition as a jumping off point. We’ll display the top five posters at April’s Phillips after 5 (in custom frames—thanks Framebridge!), plus print and distribute the winning poster to attendees. Did we mention there’s also a $200 cash prize? With representatives from the Phillips, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, and A Creative DC, our panel of judges will evaluate submissions from a variety of perspectives and expertise.

Read the full call for entry here. Nothing beats a visit to the exhibition for some in-person inspiration, but here are some detail shots from the posters and prints in the show to get your wheels turning.

detail_The Simpson Chain

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Simpson Chain (detail), 1896. Brush, crayon, and spatter lithograph, printed in three colors. Key stone printed in blue, color stones in red and yellow on wove paper, 32 5⁄8 × 47 1/4 in. Private Collection

detail_Jane Avril 1893

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril (detail), 1893. Brush and spatter lithograph. Key stone printed in olive green on wove paper. Unrecorded trial proof, 47 5⁄8 × 34 5⁄8 in. Private collection

detail_Le Tocsin

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Le Tocsin (detail), 1895. Brush and spatter lithograph, printed in two colors. Key stone before text printed in blue with a turquoise-green tint stone on wove paper, 22 1/2 × 17 13⁄16 in.

detail_May Belfort

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, May Belfort (detail), 1895. Crayon, brush, and spatter lithograph, printed in five colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in red, black, gray, and yellow on wove paper, 31 5⁄16 × 24 in. Private collection

detail_Divan Japonais

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Divan Japonais (detail, 1892–1893. Crayon, brush, spatter, and transferred screen lithograph, printed in four colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in black, yellow, and red on wove paper, 31 3/4 × 23 15⁄16 in.

detail_Moulin Rouge, La Goulue

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (detail), 1891. Brush and spatter lithograph, printed in four colors. Key stone printed in black, color stones in yellow, red, and blue on three sheets of wove paper, 75 3⁄16 × 46 1⁄6 in. Private collection

detail_Old Song

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Old Song (detail), 1898, crayon lithograph, printed in black with a beige tint stone on laid paper. Only state, first edition, Yvette Guilbert album, plate 5, 11 9⁄16 × 9 9⁄16 in.

detail_Ambassadeurs, Aristide Bruant

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Ambassadeurs, Aristide Bruant (detail), 1892. Brush and spatter lithograph, printed in five colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in orange, red, blue and black on two sheets of wove paper, 52 15⁄16 × 36 5⁄8 in. Private collection

 

Images at top, from left to right: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge, La Goulue, 1891. Brush and spatter lithograph, printed in four colors. Key stone printed in black, color stones in yellow, red, and blue on three sheets of wove paper, 75 3⁄16 × 46 1⁄6 in. Private collection; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Simpson Chain, 1896. Brush, crayon, and spatter lithograph, printed in three colors. Key stone printed in blue, color stones in red and yellow on wove paper, 32 5⁄8 × 47 1/4 in. Private Collection; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, 1893. Brush and spatter lithograph, printed in five colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in yellow, orange, red, and black on wove paper, 48 13⁄16 × 36 in. Private collection

May #Phillips95 Challenge: Architects of Design

Mondrian No 9_architecture_side by side

(left) Piet Mondrian Painting No. 9, between 1939 and 1942. Oil on canvas, 31 3/8 x 29 1/4 in. Gift from the estate of Katherine S. Dreier, 1953. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (right) Photo: Emily Conforto

We’re celebrating our 95th anniversary with a year of monthly challenges and giveaways! This month’s challenge takes inspiration from Piet Mondrian’s Painting No. 9, at left above. The ample white areas can be read as either flat surface or limitless space, and the colors, placed near the edge, draw the eye away from the center. As a result, the image hovers, as though weightless, in timeless silence or suspended energy. Mondrian believed that colors expressed spiritual light as well as emotion.

YOUR CHALLENGE: Explore your city’s architecture with Mondrian’s concepts in mind. Take a photo of your favorite building and share with #Phillips95 for a chance to win two tickets (+ two free drinks!) to Phillips after 5 on June 2. We’ll announce winners May 25.

February #Phillips95 Challenge: Penny for Your Thoughts

soutine_woman in profile

Chaim Soutine, Woman in Profile, ca. 1937. Oil on canvas ,18 13/8 x 10 7/8 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1943 © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY

Portraits play an important role at The Phillips Collection. For our second monthly #Phillips95 social media challenge (celebrating the museum’s 95th anniversary), we consider Chaim Soutine’s Woman in Profile (c. 1937). The Russian artist renders his subject with an expressive face, characteristic of his portrait style. We want to know what could have her lost so deeply in thought.

YOUR CHALLENGE: What is the woman in Soutine’s Woman in Profile thinking? Respond in the comments section here, or to our social media posts on Facebook, Twitter (@PhillipsMuseum), or Instagram (@PhillipsCollection) with #Phillips95 for a chance to win four tickets the Phillips.

We’ll announce winners Tuesday, February 23. Don’t be afraid to get creative and humorous with your answer!

 

Need inspiration? During our Made in the USA exhibition in 2014, we asked visitors what Thomas Eakins’s Miss Amelia Van Buren was thinking. See these previous blog posts for some of the responses we received to get your ideas flowing.