The influential work May Belfort by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) was created in 1895. This striking image, classified as a print, utilizes the technique of color lithography on tan wove paper. During this era in France, Toulouse-Lautrec excelled in capturing the vibrant, often shadowed, life of Parisian entertainment and café-concert culture, a movement rooted in Post-Impressionism.
The subject is the celebrated Irish singer May Belfort (1850-1929), known for her peculiar stage persona. Belfort regularly performed at the capital’s most noted venues, often adopting a childlike costume and incorporating props like a small kitten into her act. Toulouse-Lautrec masterfully utilizes the lithographic process to define her distinctive profile through bold, simplified lines and large, flat areas of color. His compositions frequently demonstrate the influence of Japanese ukiyo-e prints, characterized by dynamic cropping and strong graphical elements, which served to elevate the commercial poster and the reproductive print to the status of high art.
As a master of graphic arts, Toulouse-Lautrec produced works that were highly accessible, contributing significantly to the modern appreciation of the poster. This specific impression is housed in the renowned permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Because of its age and profound cultural importance to the Belle Époque, this image is frequently found within public domain collections, allowing for broader study of the innovative French artistic output of the 1890s.
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