Mary Hamilton from Essai dur l'histoire de la lithographie en France. Les Peintures lithographes de Manet à Matisse. Album de lithographies originales.

The French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created Mary Hamilton from Essai dur l'histoire de la lithographie en France. Les Peintures lithographes de Manet à Matisse. Album de lithographies originales. in 1894. This exemplary work of late 19th-century graphic art is a lithograph, a medium which Toulouse-Lautrec embraced wholeheartedly for its immediate connection to drawing and its capacity for capturing the texture and atmosphere of modern life. Classified as a fine art print, this work was originally intended as one of sixteen lithographs comprising a significant portfolio dedicated to cataloging the history of French lithography.

Although the initial drawing and execution of the image by Toulouse-Lautrec occurred in 1894, its appearance within the larger album suggests a more complex publication history. The formal publication date of c. 1924 indicates that this print was issued posthumously, underscoring the enduring relevance of the artist’s contribution to modernism decades after his death. The album’s goal was to position key figures within the narrative of French printmaking, and the inclusion of this piece alongside masters ranging from Manet to Matisse secured Toulouse-Lautrec’s status as a pivotal figure in the genre.

The composition itself utilizes the characteristic economy of line and sophisticated simplification of form that defined Toulouse-Lautrec’s style. Like many of his depictions, the figure study of Mary Hamilton captures a powerful psychological resonance through deft contouring rather than detailed modeling. The graphic clarity inherent in the lithographic process allowed the artist to focus on the essential structure and mood of his subjects. This important representation of the artist’s command over the print medium is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), contributing to the museum’s comprehensive representation of French fin-de-siècle art.