Jane Avril

Jane Avril by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901 is a pivotal late work created in 1899. This color lithograph, rendered on tan wove paper, exemplifies the artist's mastery of the print medium during the fin-de-siècle era. Produced near the end of his short career, the work captures the vibrant, yet often demanding, atmosphere of Parisian nightlife and the bohemian culture surrounding Montmartre. Toulouse-Lautrec specialized in creating large-scale prints and posters, thereby elevating commercial art into a recognized fine art form and defining the visual identity of Belle Époque France.

The central subject of the work is the celebrated dancer, Jane Avril, known for her distinctive style and serpentine movements. As one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s favorite models and close confidantes, Avril appears frequently throughout his body of work. In this particular impression, the artist uses the lithographic process to capture her energy through highly selective detail and bold composition. The style reflects influences from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, utilizing flattened color planes and strong outlines to create immediate visual impact, enhanced by the natural tone of the wove paper base.

This classification as a print allowed the work to be widely circulated, offering the public broad access to Toulouse-Lautrec's unique and sometimes melancholic view of the Parisian world. The final impression, Jane Avril, remains a significant document of French graphic arts from this crucial period. This highly regarded work is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, serving as a key example of the artist’s profound contributions to modern poster design and lithography.