Tag Archives: Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

The View From Here

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Each week for the duration of the exhibition, we’ll focus on one work of art from Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque, on view Feb. 4 through April 30, 2017.

Box with the Gilded Mask_Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Box with the Gilded Mask, about 1894. Crayon, brush, and spatter lithograph with scraper, printed in five colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in red or brown-red, yellow, gray-beige, and black-olive green or black on imitation Japan paper. Only state, 14 5⁄8 × 12 7⁄8 in. Private collection

Lautrec drew an admirable program in colors for which collectors will fight someday. —André Antoine

Toulouse-Lautrec’s lasting affiliation with avant-garde theater began in 1893, when he received a commission to design programs for André Antoine’s company, Théâtre Libre. This is the program design for Le Missionnaire by Marcel Luguet, printed without text, a format intended for collectors. Rather than depict a scene from the play, Toulouse-Lautrec focused on the theater box, a private space for the affluent in which to withdraw into the shadows or let themselves be seen. It shows Jane Avril, engaged in the performance, with artist Charles Condor. Like Edgar Degas’s pastel La Loge, this print is seen from a low vantage point. Two preparatory sketches for the lithograph are known.

A Print in Eight Parts

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Each week for the duration of the exhibition, we’ll focus on one work of art from Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque, on view Feb. 4 through April 30, 2017.

Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender_Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, Half-length, 1895. Crayon, brush, and spatter lithograph, printed in eight colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in yellow, red, dark pink, turquoise-green, blue, gray, and yellow-green on wove paper. State IV/IV, 12 15⁄16 × 9 5⁄8 in. Private collection

Marcelle Lender found fame as Galswinthe in Hervé’s operetta Chilpéric, revived by the Théâtre de Variétés in 1895. Toulouse-Lautrec attended 20 performances, making sketches from the audience. He immortalized the red-headed actress in the painting Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in Chilpéric and in 13 prints. After developing sketches and trial proofs for this lithograph, Toulouse-Lautrec worked closely with master printer Henri Stern at Ancourt to manage its production in four editions. Printed in eight colors from eight separate stones, it stands as proof of Toulouse-Lautrec’s mastery of lithography. Its fourth state, seen here, was reproduced in the influential German art magazine Pan. Its reference to performance, make-up, costumes, and stylish coiffures shows the influence of Japanese prints like Moatside Prostitute by Utamaro.

Toulouse-Lautrec Reinterprets Degas

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Each week for the duration of the exhibition, we’ll focus on one work of art from Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque, on view Feb. 4 through April 30, 2017.

At the Ambassadeurs_Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Ambassadeurs, Singer at the Café-Concert, 1894. Crayon, brush and spatter lithograph, printed in six colors. Key stone printed in olive green, color stones in yellow, beige-gray, salmon pink, black, and blue on wove paper. Only state, 12 × 9 3/4 in. Private collection

At the Ambassadeurs, Singer at the Café-Concert (1894)

“Degas has encouraged me by saying my work this summer wasn’t too bad. I’d like to believe it.”
—Toulouse-Lautrec to his mother, 1891

Degas comparison_thumbnail size_Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs degas

Edgar Degas, Mademoiselle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs, 1877/85. Pastel over lithograph, 9 1/16 x 7 7/8 in. Thaw Collection. Pierpont Morgan Library Dept. of Drawings and Prints

Taking inspiration from an artist he admired, Toulouse-Lautrec reinterpreted Edgar Degas’s Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs as a moment glimpsed from behind the scenes. He reversed the position of the singer and placed all of the action within the upper half of the composition. For light and atmosphere, he covered the key stone in crayon and added layers of tone with brushed ink and spatter. This lithograph appeared in the sixth L’Estampe originale album of April–June 1894.

What are the similarities and differences you find most striking between the two works? If you were to reinterpret Toulouse-Lautrec’s At the Ambassadeurs, Singer at the Café-Concert, what would you change?