Louise Blouet "Le Margoin"

Louise Blouet "Le Margoin", created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1900, is a compelling example of Post-Impressionist printmaking and portraiture. Executed as a lithograph on vellum, this piece captures the likeness of the figure named Louise Blouet, focusing closely on her distinct, tightly rendered profile. The choice of lithography as a medium provided Toulouse-Lautrec with the capacity for rapid, sketch-like immediacy often associated with his graphic work, allowing for subtle tonal shifts while maintaining linear clarity.

Toulouse-Lautrec, renowned for documenting the vibrant figures of the Montmartre district during the Belle Époque, frequently turned his attention to the lives of performers and working-class women. In this particular study, the depiction of the female profile elevates the sitter from a generalized type into a carefully observed character study. The composition relies on strong, simplified outlines and deliberate negative space, hallmarks of the artist's mature style of printmaking. The careful presentation of the subject emphasizes psychological depth while maintaining the bold graphic strength required for his high-quality prints intended for broader distribution.

Dated to the year of the artist’s premature death, Louise Blouet "Le Margoin" serves as a final testament to Toulouse-Lautrec’s dedication to capturing individualized portraits. This particular work is classified within the artist’s extensive oeuvre of graphic prints, a corpus critical to the history of modern graphic arts. The work currently resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it helps illustrate the evolution of late 19th-century portraiture and print technology. As a commercially published print, this image is widely accessible, and reproductions of this late Toulouse-Lautrec work are frequently available through public domain sources, allowing students and enthusiasts worldwide to study his masterful technique.