Cabaret Singer

Cabaret Singer is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901 in 1898. This powerful lithograph, executed on cream wove paper, exemplifies the artist's masterful command of the graphic medium late in his career. A key figure in fin-de-siècle France, Toulouse-Lautrec elevated the status of printmaking, transforming advertising and illustrative art into sophisticated fine art suitable for exhibition and wide distribution.

Toulouse-Lautrec was renowned for capturing the atmosphere and intimate personalities found within the Parisian entertainment venues of Montmartre. His focus was often on the unglamorous reality behind the performance, utilizing sharp lines and stark contrasts typical of the lithography process. This work likely depicts a specific, recognizable performer of the era, rendered with the artist's characteristic sense of immediacy and psychological depth. The piece highlights the transient yet vibrant energy of the café-concerts that dominated the cultural scene of the late 19th century.

The visual style demonstrates the artist’s engagement with Japanese woodblock prints and early photography, resulting in compositions that are often cropped dramatically and feature minimal, yet highly expressive, backgrounds. Like many of his celebrated prints, this 1898 creation remains an essential document of French modernism and the period’s obsession with documenting contemporary life. The work is classified as a print and currently resides in the highly regarded permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Because the original lithograph is now in the public domain, high-quality reference reproductions and secondary prints continue to be studied globally, confirming Toulouse-Lautrec’s lasting influence on graphic design and portraiture.