Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was represented in the Armory Show by four
paintings and one color lithograph located in Gallery O. His works were exhibited
among paintings by Seurat, Cassatt, Manet, Monet, Degas and Renoir, all of whom
were fairly well known in America by 1913, following several US exhibitions of
Impressionist works in the years just prior. A Post Impressionist,
Belle Epoque
artist,
Toulouse-Lautrec fell into Davies' chronology as a Classicist and the majority of his
works displayed in the Armory Show depicted Toulouse-Lautrec’s focus on isolated
figures in contemplative, sometimes somber, settings. However, the color lithograph
poster,
Le Divan Japonais
, 1893, exhibited in the Armory Show, represented the more
colorful, boisterous and playful, Art Nouveau graphic style for which Toulouse-
Lautrec is widely recognized.
During the 1880s and 1890s, Toulouse-Lautrec became a frequent fixture in bohemian
Montmartre nightlife and was friendly with many of the performers and clientele in the
local brothels, theaters and cabarets. Toulouse-Lautrec was very short in stature due
to chronic heath issues and prior injuries; because of this he was often taunted, prone
to drinking and prone to self-deprecating wit. He spent a significant amount of time in
brothels and became close with the prostitutes, frequently using them as subjects,
drawing and painting them as they passed their time between clients (see lot 54).
Toulouse-Lautrec was a prolific printmaker, producing over 363 prints and posters
in his relatively brief career. He was considered the premier poster artist in Paris at
the end of the 19th century, creating advertising designs for many of the major
entertainment venues in Paris, including the Moulin Rouge, and glorifying their star
performers like Jane Avril (see lot 47), Yvette Guilbert (see lot 52), Astride Bruant
(see lot 46) and May Belfort (see lot 51). Six of the ten lithographs in the current
catalogue represent iconic graphic works promoting popular 1890s Parisian
performers. For instance, actress May Belfort (May Egan) is shown bowing after a
performance with her small black cat. She was an Irish performer who came to Paris
in 1895 after gaining some recognition for her shows in England; her trademark,
however puzzling to modern audiences today, was to carry a small black cat and
dress in children’s clothing.
Toulouse-Lautrec died at the age of 36 due to complications from drinking and
syphilis. Notwithstanding his tragically brief career, his impact on modernism cannot
be understated; he was the top artist to the stars, representing a veritable “Who’s
Who” in
fin-de-siècle
Parisian society and setting the stage for future movements,
like Pop Art, well into the 20th century. When Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithographs were
first introduced, they were considered vice-ridden, scandalous and decadent by
contemporary viewers, mirroring sentiments that Armory Show attendants had
towards the modern art on view in 1913. However they soon became assimilated in
the art market canon by the end of his life.
Le Divan Japonais
, the color lithograph
poster, had a healthy asking price of $675 (around $16,000 today) in 1913 when it
was exhibited in the Armory Show.
