Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2014 Realism to Surrealism: European art and culture 1848-1936

Lautrec and the Belle Epoque

Dr Jane Kinsman 28/29 May 2014

Lecture summary: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (France 1864-1901) brought the world of the Parisian street, particularly its underbelly, into the realm of French art during the period of the belle-époque. He left for posterity, insightful, powerful and innovative imagery, which he conceived in radical compositions, with bold colour and in a simplified style.

During Lautrec’s life-time, Paris was to become the artistic capital of Europe where he was to play a significant, albeit an unusual role. When Lautrec discovered Montmartre he found not only a new and exciting repository of subject matter, but also a way of life – it was his ‘promised land’ to quote his friend, the artist François Gauzi. Lautrec’s compositions reveal his extraordinary powers of observation. His great contribution to French art at this time was that he chose his subjects from lowbrow, popular culture and the dives and haunts they inhabited. This contrasted with the glitter of Parisian society of the belle époque.

Lautrec relied less on staged compositions and modes acting out a role. Instead the artist chose to depict the stars of the dives and dance halls. His characters were the actual inhabitants of this Parisian underworld: the singer songwriter and impresario, Artistide Bruant ; the dancer of the lewd chahut, La Goulue, who shocked and intrigued the crowds at the Moulin Rouge and elsewhere; Yvette Guilbert , who sang the haunting songs of desperate people; and Jane Avril, with her ethereal, dynamic dancing. They all thrilled audiences with their performances and enthralled Lautrec. They performed in a world where the distinctions were blurred between entertainer and spectator, working-class and the aristocrat; and in the case of Lautrec, between high and low art.

Though he was to struggle with ill health for much of his life, Lautrec remained prodigious artist and in comparison with many other artists of the time, he sought to depict the darker side of this golden era.

Slide list: 1. Title page 2. Maurice Guilbert, Lautrec, c. 1892, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 3. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Par lui-même, [Self-portrait], c. 1882–1883, oil on wood; 40.5 x 32.5 cm, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 4. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Compte Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec en fauconnier [Compte Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec as a falconer], 1879, watercolour, 25.7 x 13.7 cm, Maison natale de Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 5. Lautrec at the Atelier Cormon, c. 1885, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 6. Camille Pissarro, Boulevard Montmartre, matin temps gris [Boulevard Montmartre, morning, cloudy weather], 1897, oil on canvas, 72.0 x 92.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 7. Honoré Daumier, ‘Voila pourtant notre chambre nuptiale, Adelaide... [Remember our marriage chamber, Adelaide ...]’, Le charivari, 1853, lithograph, 35.5 x 24.5 (sheet), National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 8. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pont Neuf, Paris, 1872, oil on canvas, 75.3 x 93.7 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington

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9. Mary Cassatt, Children in a garden (The nurse), 1878, oil on canvas, 65.4 x 81.0 cm, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 10. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard, 1885–86, oil on canvas; 54.0 x 44.5 cm, Tate, London 11. Edgar Degas, Edmond Duranty, 1879, gouache, pastel, 100.0 x 100.0 cm, Burrell collection, Glasgow 12. Maurice Guilbert, Lautrec painting the portrait of Berthe la sourde, c. 1889, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 13. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Femme à l’ombrelle: Berthe la sourde [Woman with a parasol: Deaf Berthe], 1889, gouache, watercolour and tempera on cardboard, 76.7 x 57.5 cm, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg 14. Claude Monet, Meules, milieu du jour [Haystacks, midday], 1890, oil on canvas, 65.6 x 100.6 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 15. Jean-Léon Gérôme, Pygmalion et Galatée [Pygmalion and Galatea], 1890, oil on canvas, 88.9 x 68.6 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 16. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Madame Suzanne Valadon, 1885, 55.0 x 45.0 cm, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires 17. Gustave Caillebotte, Le jardin de Petit Gennevilliers en hiver [The garden Petit Gennevilliers in winter], 1894, oil on canvas, 73.0 x 60.0 cm, Private collection 18. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Madame La Comtesse à de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1882, oil on canvas, 55.0 x 46.0 cm, Muséo d’Arte Sao-Paulo, Brazil 19. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La femme au chien (Portrait de Madame Fabre à Arcachon) [Woman with a dog (Portrait of Madame Fabre at Arcachon)], 1891, oil on cardboard, 75.0 x 57.2 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 20. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Désiré Dihau, 1890, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 56.0 x 45.0 cm, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 21. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Justine Dieuhl: femme dans un jardin [Justine Dieuhl: woman in a garden], 1891, oil on cardboard, 74.0 x 58.0 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris 22. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Fille à l’accroche-coeur [Young woman with a kiss curl], 1889, 68.0 x 55.0 cm, oil on board, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art 23. James Tissot, Evening, 1878, oil on canvas, 91.0 x 51.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 24. Giovanni Boldini, Madame Charles Max, 1896, oil on canvas, 205.0 x 100.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 25. Albert Besnard, Madame Roger Jourdain, 1886, oil on canvas, 200.0 x 153.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 26. Henri Gervex, Madame Valtesse de la Bigne, 1889, oil on canvas, 200.0 x 122.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 27. Edouard Lièvre (designer), Bed of Madame Valtesse de la Bigne, 1875, Musées Arts Decoratifs, Paris 28. Henri Gervex, Ramond, Cover for Le Goût Parisien: Journal des modes trimestial, no. 8, Summer 1891, colour plate, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 29. Henri Gervex, Madame Valtesse de la Bigne, 1889, oil on canvas, 200.0 x 122.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 30. Jules Bastien-Lepage, Octobre [October], 1878, oil on canvas, 180.7 x 196.0 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 31. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Carmen, 1884, oil on canvas, 52.0 x 40.8 cm, Sterling and Francine Clarke Art Institute, Massachusetts 32. Honoré Daumier, Laveuse au Quai d'Anjou (Laundress on the Quai D’Anjou), c. 1860, oil on wood, 28.6 x 19.7 cm, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo 33. Edgar Degas, Les blanchisseuses [Laundresses], 1876-78, oil on paper mounted canvas, 46.0 x 61.0 cm, Private Collection 34. Edgar Degas, Femmes à repasser [Women ironing], c. 1884-86, oil on unprimed canvas, 76.0 x 81.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 35. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Blanchisseuse [The laundress], c. 1886, oil painting, 93.0 x 75.0 cm, Private collection 36. * Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, Tête de femme rousse en caraco blanc [Head of a redheaded woman in a white blouse], c. 1885–86, oil on canvas, 59.5 x 48.2 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid 37. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La rousse au caraco blanc [The redhead in a white blouse], 1887, oil on canvas, 55.9 x 46.7 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 38. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Rousse (La toilette) [Redhead (washing)], 1889, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 67.0 x 54.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 39. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, A la Bastille, Jeanne Wenz [At the Bastille, Jeanne Wenz], 1888, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 49.5 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington 40. Lautrec and his model before Au Salon, c. 1894, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris 41. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Le sofa, c. 1894-95, oil on cardboard, 62.9 x 81.0 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 42. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Femme assise [Seated woman], 1893, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 57.0 x 44.0 cm, Musée de Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 43. Edgar Degas, Au salon [In the salon], 1876-77, monotype in black ink, 12.2 x 17.2 cm (plate), National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 44. Paul Sescau, Toulouse Lautrec, c. 1892, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 45. Félix Nadar, Charles Baudelaire in an armchair, 1855, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 46. Paul Gavarni, Entre le turf et le lansquenet [Between the races and the cards], Le Charivari, 3 October 1846, lithograph, 36.0 x 25.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia 47. Gustave Caillebotte, Le Pont de l’Europe (variante), 1876-1877, oil on canvas, 105.0 x 131.0 cm, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth 48. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Les parapluies, [The umbrellas], 1881-6, oil on canvas 180.3 x 114.9cm, The National Gallery, London 49. Gustave Caillebotte, Rue de Paris: temps de pluie [Rue de Paris: rainy], 1877, oil on canvas, 212.2 x 276.2 cm, The Art Institute, Chicago 50. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaston Bonnefoy, 1891, oil on cardboard, 71.0 x 37.0 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid 51. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Louis Pascal, 1891, oil on cardboard, 77.0 x 53.0 cm, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 52. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Portrait of Dr Henri Bourges, 1891, oil on cardboard mounted on panel, 79.0 x 50.0 cm, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh 53. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Louis Pascal, 1891, oil on cardboard, 77.0 x 53.0 cm, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 54. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Leclercq, 1897, oil on cardboard, 54.0 x 67.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 55. James McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Flesh Colour and Black: Portrait of Théodore Duret, 1883, oil on canvas, 193.4 x 90.8 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 56. Giovanni Boldini, Le comte Robert de Montesquiouen [Count Robert of Montesquiouen], 1897, oil on canvas, 115.5 x 82.5, Musée d'Orsay, Paris 57. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, L’Anglais au Moulin Rouge [The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge]: Monsieur William Warrener, 1892, oil on cardboard, 85.7 x 66.0 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 58. Pierre Vidal, Cover for Georges Montorgueil’s La Vie à Montmarte, 1897, colour lithograph, The Jane Voorhees, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 59. Toulouse-Lautrec, dressed in Jane Avril’s clothes at attend the “Women’s ball” (Bal des femmes) held by the Courier français at the Elysés-Montmarte, 19 March 1892, c. 1892, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 60. Edgar Degas, Dans un café (Le buveur d'absinthe) [In a café (The absinthe drinker)], 1875-76, oil on canvas, 92.0 x 68.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 61. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Un michet à la mie, c. 1891, oil paint on millboard mounted on panel, 53 x 67.9 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 62. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alfred la Guigne [The pimp], 1894, oil on cardboard, 65.6 x 50.4 cm, Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington 63. Maurice Guilbert, Toulouse-Lautrec dressed in Japanese costume, c. 1892, The Museum of Modern Art, New York 64. Agence Roger-Viollet, Aristide Bruant, c. 1890 65. La Goulue, 1891, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 66. Yvette Guilbert 67. Jane Avril, Musée de Montmartre, Paris 68. Le Chat Noir – Mirliton – 84 boulevard Rochechouart, Paris 69. Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Chat Noir (Tournée) [Black cat (touring)], 1896, colour lithographic poster, 136.7 x 98.4 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 70. Marcellin Desboutin, Aristide Bruant, lithograph, Musée de Montmartre, Paris 71. Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, The four legs [Les quat’pattes] 1893, Cover of Le Mirliton, 9 June 1893, colour photorelief, 37.8 x 27.6 cm, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 72. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Aristide Bruant, dans son cabaret [Man in black, (Aristide Bruant)], 1893, colour lithograph, 128.3 x 96.5cm, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 73. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Eldorado: Aristide Bruant, 1892, brush and spatter lithograph, 141.60 x 98.55 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 74. Edgar de Saint-Senoch, Yvette Guilbert, 1896, from La Revue illustrée, No. 15 (15 July 1897), p.80, Private collection 75. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Yvette Guilbert saluant le public [Yvette Guilbert taking a curtain call], 1894, oil on photographic enlargement of lithograph, 48.0 x 25.0 cm, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 76. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Saluant le public [Taking a curtain call], 1898, from the series Yvette Guilbert, crayon lithograph with scraper, 49.5 x 38.0 cm National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 77. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Chansch ancieune [Old song], 1898, from the series Yvette Guilbert, crayon lithograph, 49.5 x 38.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 78. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Linger, longer, loo, 1898, from the series Yvette Guilbert, crayon lithograph, printed in black, 49.5 x 38.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 79. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Divan Japonais, 1893, colour crayon, brush spatter and transferred screen lithograph, 80.3 x 61.3 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 80. The Moulin Rouge concert bal in Paris, with posters by Lautrec, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris 81. La Goulue, c. 1890, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 82. The Dance Hall of Moulin Rouge, Illustration in Le Panorama: Paris La Nuit, c. 1898, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 83. La Goulue, 1891, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 84. Moulin Rouge - 82 boulevard de Clichy 85. The Garden of the Moulin Rouge, c. 1899, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris 86. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Au Moulin Rouge: La danse [At the Moulin Rouge: the dance], 1890, oil on canvas, 115.6 x 149.9 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art 87. Maurice Guibert, Toulouse-Lautrec in his studio 88. La Goulue, c. 1890, National Gallery of Art Library, John Rewald Collection 89. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Goulue entrant au Moulin-Rouge [La Goulue at the Moulin Rouge], 1891–92, oil on cardboard, 79.4 x 59.0 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York 90. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, 1891, brush and spatter lithograph, on three sheets, 195.0 x 122.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 91. Jules Chéret, Bal au Moulin Rouge - Place Blanche [Ball at the Moulin Rouge - Place Blanche], 1889, lithograph, 120.6 x 86.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 92. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec with Charles Zidler looking at the poster by Jules Chéret 93. Eugène Atget, Paris, rue de L’Abbaye, 1898, Musée Carnavalet, Paris 94. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril entrant au Moulin Rouge [Entering the Moulin Rouge], 1892, oil and pastel on three sheets of cardboard, 102.0 x 55.0 cm, Courtland Institute Galleries, London 95. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Divan Japonais, 1893, colour crayon, brush spatter and transferred screen lithograph, 80.3 x 61.3 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 96. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, 1893, brush and spatter lithograph, 128.2 x 93.6 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 97. Edgar Degas, L’orchestre de l’Opéra [The Opera orchestra], c. 1870, oil on canvas, 56.5 x 46.2 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 98. Honoré Daumier, The orchestra while the tragedy plays out, Le Charivari, 5 and 7 April 1852, lithograph, 34.6 x 26.4 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 99. Jane Avril, 1893 100. * Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril dansant [Jane Avril dancing], 1892, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 85.5 x 45.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris 101. Edgar Degas, Danseuses, roses et vertes [Dancers, pink and green], c. 1890, oil on canvas, 82.2 x 75.6 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 102. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Caudieux, 1893, brush and spatter lithograph, 89.5 x 125.7 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 103. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Au Moulin Rouge [At the Moulin Rouge], 1892-1893, oil on canvas, 123.0 x 141.0 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago 104. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Monsieur Boileau, 1893, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 80.0 x 65.0 cm, The Cleveland Museum of Art 105. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Reine de Joie [Queen of Pleasure], 1892, brush, spatter and transferred screen lithograph, 138.4 x 93.0 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 106. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La troupe de Madmoiselle Eglantine, 1896, brush, spatter and crayon lithograph, 61.7 x 80.4 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 107. Troupe de Mademoiselle Eglantine, c. 1896, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi 108. Pierre Bonnard, France-Champagne, 1891, lithograph, 78.0 x 57.8 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 109. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Confetti, 1894, brush, spatter and crayon lithograph, 43.6 x 55.6 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 110. Jules Chéret, Halle aux chapeaux, 1892, lithograph, 119.6 x 82.4 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Reference:

Gauzi, François, My friend Toulouse-Lautrec, translated by Paul Dinnage, London: N Spearman, 1957 Kinsman, Jane with Stéphane Guégan, Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris and the Moulin Rouge, Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 2012 Thomson, Richard et al, Toulouse-Lautrec, London: South Bank Centre, with the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 1991 Thomson, Richard et al, Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, Washington: National Gallery of Art, in association with Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005

Images:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Justine Dieuhl: Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, Tête de femme femme dans un jardin [Justine Dieuhl: rousse en caraco blanc [Head of a woman in a garden], 1891, oil on cardboard, redheaded woman in a white blouse], c. 74.0 x 58.0 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris 1885–86, oil on canvas, 59.5 x 48.2 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Eldorado: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Louis Pascal, 1891, oil on cardboard, 77.0 x 53.0 cm, Aristide Bruant, 1892, brush and spatter Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi lithograph, 141.60 x 98.55 cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Divan Japonais, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Goulue 1893, colour crayon, brush spatter and entrant au Moulin-Rouge [La Goulue at the transferred screen lithograph, 80.3 x 61.3 Moulin Rouge], 1891–92, oil on cardboard, cm, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 79.4 x 59.0 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec, Jane Avril dansant [Jane Avril dancing] , 1892, peinture à l’essence on cardboard, 85.5 x 45.0 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris