Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Private Collection, Geneva (and sold: Sotheby's, London, April 2, 1981, lot 307)
Private Collection, London (acquired at the above sale and sold: Christie's, New York, November 15, 1988, lot 8)
Private Collection, New York (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 8, 1995, lot 158)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Galerie Barthélémy, Toulouse-Lautrec, 1903, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue
Chicago, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Six Centuries of Myth and Legend, 1988, no. 34

Maurice Joyant, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864-1901, vol. I, Paris, 1926, p. 259; vol. II, pp. 6 & 40 
Paul de Lapparent, Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris, 1927, p. 15
Henri Perruchot, La Vie de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris, 1958, p. 78
M.G. Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre, vol. II, New York, 1971, no. P.204, illustrated p. 89
Gale B. Murray, Toulouse-Lautrec, The Formative Years, Oxford, 1991, pp. 48 & 238

This work is in good condition. The canvas is strip lined. There is a layer of varnish which is slightly dirty. There is a patch visible on the reverse of the upper right corner which corresponds to a 2 inch horizontal repaired tear in the front of the canvas which is visible in raking light. There is a pindot surface loss just under the tail of the tiger on the left. Under UV light: there are two spots of retouching at the center of the right edge and a pindot of retouching in the chariot. Otherwise, fine.
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.

Born into an aristocratic French family in 1864, Toulouse-Lautrec spent much of his life rendering images of the Parisian demi-monde, revealing his genius for visually investigating the world of fin-de-siècle France. The present work is a strikingly rare allegorical painting executed at the beginning of the artist's career, demonstrating his compelling aptitude for art historical study. While radically different from his twilight nightlife studies, the present work displays the artist’s trademark experimentation with perspective and point of view. Though the work is academic and more traditional in style from his later works, the fighting tigers against the flattened background speak to the influence of Japonisme and the Japanese woodblock prints which were widely circulated in Paris and much admired by Édouard Manet, Édouard Vuillard and Vincent van Gogh throughout the period (see fig. 1).