Caudieux at the Petit Casino, from Le Café-Concert is a pivotal 1893 lithograph created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901), capturing a definitive moment in fin-de-siècle Parisian entertainment. This important print was executed on ivory wove paper, printed by Edward Ancourt & Cie, and originally published as part of the celebrated print portfolio L’Estampe originale. The piece exemplifies Toulouse-Lautrec’s sophisticated understanding of the graphic arts, utilizing the medium not merely for reproduction but for its expressive potential in conveying movement and atmosphere.
The subject is the celebrated clown Caudieux, depicted during a performance at the famed Petit Casino. Toulouse-Lautrec specialized in documenting the gritty, unvarnished reality of the café-concert circuit, focusing on the performers and patrons who defined the nightlife of Montmartre in France. This work avoids sentimentalism, instead using stark outlines and dramatic cropping to emphasize the energy and perhaps the inherent solitude of the professional entertainer under the harsh stage lights. The spontaneity of the composition and the bold contours defined the future trajectory of modern graphic design.
As a significant example of turn-of-the-century French printmaking, this lithograph contributed to the elevation of prints as a fine art form. This piece, now residing in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, allows viewers unique insight into the social milieu the artist inhabited. Although the specific impression is a museum asset, historical works like Caudieux at the Petit Casino, from Le Café-Concert are frequently categorized within the public domain, ensuring broad access for scholarship and study of this iconic moment in art history.
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