At the Star, Le Havre

At the Star, Le Havre is a definitive late work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901, created in 1899. This iconic image was realized as a lithograph on cream wove paper, a medium Lautrec utilized extensively to capture the immediacy and atmosphere of modern life. As a dedicated printmaker, Toulouse-Lautrec revolutionized the visual culture of France at the turn of the century, adapting the relatively new technology of lithography for both highly technical fine art prints and influential commercial posters. The work's classification as a print highlights the artist’s dedication to accessible and widely distributed artistic expression, diverging from the traditional constraints of painting.

Created shortly before the artist's premature death, the work exemplifies Lautrec's keen interest in documenting the social life of urban centers, likely depicting a café or establishment in the Normandy port city referenced in the title. His aesthetic is characterized by sharp, evocative lines and dynamic composition, frequently influenced by the flat planes and cropped views of Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Lautrec often focused on figures in profile or isolation, offering candid, often unsentimental views of café patrons, performers, or hotel residents. This style captured the nervous energy of fin de siècle France, moving beyond the observations of Impressionism into a darker, more psychologically penetrating portrayal of leisure and modern labor.

As a significant example of his lithographic output from 1899, this piece underscores the technical and observational mastery Toulouse-Lautrec achieved in printmaking during the final years of his career. The enduring popularity of his visual documentation means that high-resolution images of his works are widely available, contributing significantly to the public domain of late 19th-century French art. This unique impression of At the Star, Le Havre is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a key reference for understanding the critical role of prints in disseminating modern artistic movements across Europe.