The ambitious title, Horse-Drawn Carriage Preceded by Single Rider (recto); Man Riding Horse with a Blanket and Sketches of Heads, Horses and Triumphal Arch (verso), describes a fascinating double-sided drawing created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901). Executed across the span of his mature career, between 1884 and 1901, this sheet exemplifies the artist's rapid, observational style and reliance on sketching as a core practice.
The recto is composed purely of graphite on white wove paper (now discolored to buff), depicting a dynamic street scene of a horse-drawn carriage being led by a single rider. This straightforward study captures an everyday moment in France, characteristic of the urban documentation for which Toulouse-Lautrec became famous.
In contrast, the verso reveals a richer material complexity, incorporating graphite, pastel, and black crayon. This side functions as a working sketchbook, featuring multiple unrelated studies, including a focused rendering of a man riding a horse draped with a blanket. Alongside this figure study are miscellaneous quick sketches of heads, additional horses, and an architectural drawing of a triumphal arch, suggesting the artist was simultaneously observing disparate elements of his environment.
This piece, classified as a drawing, offers direct insight into Toulouse-Lautrec’s spontaneity and facility with various media. The wide date range of the work suggests it functioned as a continuous surface for quick ideas and preparations, reinforcing his reputation as a master draftsman whose sketches profoundly informed his later prints and paintings. This important piece is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, providing art historians access to the creative process of this post-Impressionist master. As a work of this vintage, high-quality reproductions and digital assets related to this public domain drawing are widely available for scholarship.
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