Ducarre at Les Ambassadeurs (from Le Café Concert)

"Ducarre at Les Ambassadeurs (from Le Café Concert)" is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1893. Executed in crayon and spatter lithography with a scraper, the image is printed in black on wove paper and represents the only known state of the work. This piece belongs to Toulouse-Lautrec’s celebrated series documenting the dynamic, often gritty, atmosphere of the café-concerts and music halls defining fin-de-siècle Paris.

The subject is the male performer Ducarre, shown here during an appearance at Les Ambassadeurs. Toulouse-Lautrec was intensely engaged with the characters who populated Parisian nightlife, capturing the raw immediacy and specific characteristics of the era's entertainers. The work focuses directly on the subject, typical of the artist’s approach to depicting the individuals, both men and women, who drove the culture of public performance.

Toulouse-Lautrec's technical brilliance is evident in the nuanced application of the medium. The use of the scraper creates sharp contrasts and highlights, lending a dramatic, immediate quality that underscores the nocturnal settings favored by the artist. His commitment to lithography allowed for the mass production of these images, cementing his legacy as a master of modern prints. This historical documentation of Parisian life, housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, offers deep insight into 19th-century performance culture. Works like this often enter the public domain, ensuring broad accessibility for cultural historians and art enthusiasts alike.