Carnival (Carnaval)

Carnival (Carnaval) is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec between 1894 and 1895. This piece exemplifies the artist’s mastery of color lithography, a medium he popularized during the French period spanning 1876 to 1900. The composition utilizes a striking palette limited to gray-green and red inks, printed onto wove paper, highlighting the bold graphic style characteristic of Toulouse-Lautrec’s late career. As a dedicated printmaker, he focused intensely on capturing the fleeting energy and often ambiguous atmosphere of Parisian nightlife and public celebrations.

Toulouse-Lautrec was deeply embedded in the cabaret culture and bohemian life of Montmartre, Paris, documenting the entertainment and varied social strata of the fin-de-siècle era. While this particular work captures a festive atmosphere suggested by its title, Carnival (Carnaval), the artist typically injected a sense of melancholy or keen, psychological observation into his depictions of public figures and gatherings. His signature approach utilizes dynamic lines and flat areas of color, moving away from traditional academic techniques toward a modern, poster-like aesthetic that prioritized immediacy and graphic impact.

The era covering the years 1876 to 1900 marked the peak of original poster art and artistic prints as both commercial and fine art forms. Toulouse-Lautrec’s innovative contributions to the medium cemented his legacy as one of the pivotal figures in late nineteenth-century French art. This impression of the lithograph resides in the esteemed collection of the National Gallery of Art, offering scholars and the public an essential example of the artist's graphic output. Works such as this, often highly influential and widely reproduced, exemplify key masterworks made accessible today through various public domain initiatives.