Mary Hamilton from Le Café Concert

Mary Hamilton from Le Café Concert is a lithograph created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1893. This piece is one component of a significant portfolio illustrating the vibrant, often raw, Parisian entertainment culture of the period. The work is defined as one of a total of twenty-three lithographs comprising the illustrated volume, cementing the artist’s legacy not just as a painter, but as a master of printmaking. Classified specifically as an Illustrated Book, the production of this portfolio highlights Toulouse-Lautrec’s dedication to utilizing reproducible mediums to capture and disseminate images of the Belle Époque nightlife.

Toulouse-Lautrec was instrumental in elevating commercial print techniques to the level of fine art. The lithograph technique allowed him to capture the immediacy and atmosphere of the café-concert scenes with expressive lines and a characteristic economy of color. The medium inherently facilitates the dissemination of images, emphasizing the shift in French art during the late nineteenth century toward graphic arts and posters. Toulouse-Lautrec became synonymous with depicting the gritty glamour of Montmartre, moving away from academic painting traditions toward portraying modern, ephemeral celebrity and the reality of the performance circuit.

As part of the extensive collection Le Café Concert, the specific lithograph depicting Mary Hamilton captures the fleeting stardom of the era’s singers and entertainers. Toulouse-Lautrec often chose subjects outside the societal mainstream, granting them dignity and psychological depth through his rapid, incisive renderings. He skillfully isolates his figures against simplified backgrounds, focusing the viewer’s attention entirely on the performer’s posture and implied presence. While this specific work resides in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) collection, the nature of these 1893 prints ensures that illustrations from this pivotal portfolio remain highly accessible, forming a crucial visual document of the French fin-de-siècle art and culture.