Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Lithograph printed in black with splatter technique, 1891, one of Wittrock's three trial proofs and the only known impression of the key stone printed individually, on two joined sheets, linen-backed, framed

The print is in good condition with margins on all sides and linen-backed sheets. Discoloration at the sheet edges and at the join of the two sheets. Several unobtrusive creases, the longest 8 inches at the top edge of the bottom sheet, and occasional tears, the largest above the dancer's head measuring 5 inches. Additional imperfections include minor nicks in the sheet edges and the join of the two sheets, surface soiling in the center of the left side and two inconspicuous areas of damp stain in the bottom left and right corners.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

From its opening in late 1889, Lautrec frequented his favorite club Moulin Rouge daily and was on a first-name basis with its performers, proprietor, regulars, and the prostitutes who solicited its patrons for business.  Lautrec made Moulin Rouge’s main attraction, its famed dancer La Goulue, the poster’s central focus.

The composition focuses on the center of attention, La Goulue’s derrière, as she danced a particularly athletic and risqué version of the can-can, the quadrille naturaliste.  Lautrec freezes the moment the for which the club’s clientele waited; the instant when La Goulue kicks her skirts over her head on a night when she is wearing particularly transparent bloomers, if any at all.  In the foreground, the silhouette of Valentin le Désossé and a circular object, a reference to the dancehall’s modern electric lights, obscure our view, forcing the viewer to peer through the crowd at the main attraction.  The perspective of the chandelier suggests that the viewer is looking down on La Goulue from above.  The ability to see the floorboards receding underneath La Goulue’s feet implies that the viewer watches the dancer while lying close to the ground.  Simultaneously, the viewer is at eye-level with le Désossé, implying that the viewer forms part of the ring spectators, confusing issues of perspective further and borrowing from the pictorial lexicon of Japanese woodblock prints.  Ignoring traditional chiaroscuro techniques and rules of perspective by simplifying the line and combining multiple viewpoints, Lautrec both flattens the composition and presses the figures to the picture plane.

The more liberal government of the Third Republic relaxed censorship laws and also pursued a policy to elevate prints to the status of high art.  In 1881, the government modified an 1830 law allowing posters to be pasted on designated walls without gaining police authorization prior to their posting.  Predictably, the number of posters rapidly increased along with the number of artists creating them.  The Third Republic’s Government Inspector of Museums, Roger Marx, was an active proponent of the arts and crafts movement started by Englishman William Morris, which held that, social iniquities could be ameliorated through greater access to the arts.  Printmaking in whatever form - lithography and street posters – played an important role in the government’s vision of the decorative arts to ameliorate social iniquities to create a democratic, egalitarian society.

A symbiotic relationship developed between the proprietors of the Montmartre cabarets and the artists who frequented them, turning the nightclubs into gathering places for artists, writers, actors and performers of all types.  Young avant-garde artists who turned their back on the official Salon sought alternative exhibition spaces and found it in the cabarets and dancehalls of Montmartre, eager to capitalize on the newfound leisure time of the expanding middle class in Industrial Revolution France.

All of this led to exploding demand for color lithography and posters near the turn of the century, which has been dubbed L’Age d’Affiche.  In 1884, eleven artists supplied four dealers with lithographs and posters.  By 1896, an entire infrastructure of artists, printers, publishers and journals developed to support print and poster collectors.  Furthermore, by 1896, the phrase Estampe Originale (original print – a lithograph or poster signed and numbered by the artist to ensure exclusivity for the collector) entered the art market lexicon.

This is not to take away from Lautrec’s extraordinary achievement with Moulin Rouge – La Goulue.  In fact, Jules Cheret, who had been producing posters for decades, declared Lautrec a master upon seeing it.  However, when viewed in the complete cultural context that characterized fin de siècle Paris, Moulin Rouge – La Goulue seems to be a logical step in Lautrec’s oeuvre.