Lender Dancing the Bolero in "Chilperic" (Lender dansant le pas du boléro dans "Chilpéric")

Lender Dancing the Bolero in "Chilperic" (Lender dansant le pas du boléro dans "Chilpéric") is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1895. This evocative work is rendered as a lithograph in olive green, demonstrating Toulouse-Lautrec's masterful command of the graphic arts during the fertile period of 1876 to 1900. As a major figure in French Post-Impressionism, Toulouse-Lautrec frequently captured the lively, sometimes chaotic, world of Parisian performance and theater.

The subject of this piece is the celebrated dancer Marcelle Lender, captured here performing the boléro in Hervé’s popular opéra bouffe, Chilpéric. Lender was renowned for her fiery stage presence and distinctive technique, characteristics that Toulouse-Lautrec frequently sought to document in his art. Unlike his famous cabaret scenes, the work focuses intensely on the singular drama of the dance itself, isolating the performer against a simple, uncluttered background. Toulouse-Lautrec utilizes the limited color palette of the olive green medium to emphasize form and kinetic energy over atmospheric detail, drawing the viewer's attention directly to the angular, dynamic posture of the dancer.

Throughout his career, Toulouse-Lautrec elevated the status of the commercial print, transforming lithography into a recognized fine art medium. This particular image exemplifies his signature style: a fusion of Japanese ukiyo-e influence, characterized by sharp outlines and flattened perspective, merged with the psychological observation typical of his fin-de-siècle contemporaries. The resulting print captures a fleeting moment of high dramatic performance, reflecting the artist’s lifelong fascination with the stage. A vital example of French graphic artistry, this work is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art.