Jane Avril from Le Café Concert

Jane Avril from Le Café Concert by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a quintessential piece of late nineteenth-century graphic art, encapsulating the energy of Parisian bohemian life. Executed in 1893, this lithograph is one component of a significant portfolio documenting the famed café concert culture of Montmartre. Classified structurally as an Illustrated Book, the overall set consisted of twenty-three highly influential prints, carefully structured to include a designated wrapper front and a duplicate impression for the box housing the series.

The subject, Jane Avril, was among the most celebrated dancers of the era and became a recurring muse for Toulouse-Lautrec. The artist specialized in using the medium of lithography to capture the dynamic movements and stark, often unflattering, psychological truths of his subjects in rapid succession. Avril is depicted here with the elegance and angularity that characterized her public persona, rendered in Toulouse-Lautrec’s signature style of sharp outlines and economical use of color and detail. His work often blurs the line between fine art and commercial illustration, effectively elevating the French affiche (poster) to artistic legitimacy.

The widespread availability of these French prints helped solidify the international reputation of Toulouse-Lautrec and the popularization of artistic documentation of contemporary urban scenes. The 1893 portfolio format allowed this sequence of visual narratives to circulate widely among collectors and critics, marking a critical transition in printmaking history. This particular impression of Jane Avril from Le Café Concert is preserved in the Museum of Modern Art collection, where it serves as a foundational example of modern graphic design and illustrated books from the period.