American Singer, from Le Café-Concert

American Singer, from Le Café-Concert is a seminal lithograph created in 1893 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This influential work, printed by Edward Ancourt & Cie and published in the renowned French portfolio L'Estampe originale, captures the vibrant, transient world of Parisian nightlife that Toulouse-Lautrec so often chronicled. Executed on ivory wove paper, the print medium allows for the artist’s characteristic economical line work and bold, dynamic cropping, placing the focus entirely on the theatrical presence of the unnamed performer.

The depiction of the café-concert performer was central to the culture of late 19th-century France. Toulouse-Lautrec documented the democratization of entertainment and the rise of popular celebrity through figures like this American Singer, rendering them with immediacy and penetrating observation. This piece exemplifies the era's fascination with graphic arts, contributing to a boom in high-quality decorative prints accessible to a wider audience. The artist’s ability to suggest atmosphere and movement using relatively few colors solidifies his reputation as a master printmaker.

This significant representation of fin-de-siècle performance culture is maintained in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Classified as an essential piece of French print history, the work is frequently studied for its technical brilliance and its candid historical record. High-resolution images of these master prints are often made available through the museum’s public domain programs, ensuring the widespread accessibility of Toulouse-Lautrec’s enduring influence on modern graphic art.