Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Who
Painter and printmaker of Montmartre nightlife, born to an aristocratic family and left about five feet tall by a genetic bone condition. Died at 36.
Why they matter
His roughly thirty posters, beginning with Moulin Rouge: La Goulue in 1891, made the lithographic poster an art form. The flat colour, the cropped figures and the lettering as part of the design come straight from Japanese prints and go straight into modern graphic design.
What to buy
Originals: this is the printmaker whose originals were printed by the thousand and pasted on walls, so lifetime posters survive in numbers, at prices from the tens of thousands up. His smaller lithographs (the Elles portfolio, the theatre programmes) are the affordable tier, and Swann's regular poster sales are where to learn the market. Everything on eBay under a few hundred dollars is a reproduction. Prints: the posters were designed to be reproduced, so a good modern print loses less than most.
Notes
The Musee Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, his home town, holds the largest collection, formed from his mother's gift.
Key works
- Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891) - colour lithograph poster
- Aristide Bruant dans son cabaret (1892) - colour lithograph poster
- Jane Avril (1893) - colour lithograph poster
- At the Moulin Rouge (1892-1895) - Art Institute of Chicago
In museum collections
- At the Moulin Rouge (1892)
Art Institute of Chicago ↗ · Find a print ↗ - At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance (1890)
Philadelphia Museum of Art ↗ · Find a print ↗ - La Toilette (1889)
Musee d'Orsay ↗ · Find a print ↗ - Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) (1888)
Art Institute of Chicago ↗ · Find a print ↗ - The Hangover (Suzanne Valadon) (1889)
Harvard Art Museums ↗ · Find a print ↗ - Le Lit (1892)
Musee d'Orsay ↗ · Find a print ↗ - The Rope Dancer (1899)
Nationalmuseum Sweden ↗ · Find a print ↗ - La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge
MoMA ↗ · Find a print ↗ - Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891)
The Met ↗ · MoMA ↗ · Find a print ↗ - The Englishman (William Tom Warrener, 1861–1934) at the Moulin Rouge (1892)
The Met ↗ · Find a print ↗ - In a Private Dining Room (1899)
Art UK ↗ · Find a print ↗ - Henry Samary de la Comédie Française (1889)
Musee d'Orsay ↗ · Find a print ↗
See the work
Prints
Books
Originals
See also
Browse all 2,101 artists · Open in the directory · Where the work hangs: 109 museums on a map