Anna Held and Baldy (Anna Held et Baldy)

Anna Held and Baldy (Anna Held et Baldy) is a lithograph created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1896. This print captures the celebrated Polish-American actress and singer Anna Held, a dominant figure in the Parisian entertainment scene of the Belle Époque, alongside her beloved dog, Baldy. The work serves as a prime example of Toulouse-Lautrec’s dedication to capturing the dynamic, unvarnished personalities that defined the French nightlife of the late nineteenth century.

Executed as a lithograph in black, the piece exemplifies Toulouse-Lautrec's characteristic mastery of the print medium. His use of bold, decisive lines and sharp visual cropping reflects the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, adapted for a modern, European sensibility. The monochromatic nature of the lithograph heightens the drama and focus on the sitter's expression, avoiding the decorative elements common in posters of the time in favor of a penetrating character study. Created during the period spanning 1876 to 1900, this piece cemented Toulouse-Lautrec's status as a leading graphic artist who used the reproducible nature of prints to circulate images of celebrity culture widely.

Toulouse-Lautrec’s documentation of popular figures like Held provides invaluable insight into the cultural environment of fin-de-siècle Paris. The artist typically avoided idealization, instead offering a precise, observant depiction of his subjects, even in their moments of domesticity, rather than on the public stage. This particular image resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, where the original lithograph is maintained as a vital record of this pivotal era in French art. Its enduring quality and historical significance ensure that high-resolution prints of this work are frequently shared, often contributing to the rich body of art available through public domain initiatives.