Menu for a Dinner given by May Belfort

Menu for a Dinner given by May Belfort by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901, is a concise and sophisticated example of late 19th-century commercial graphic design. Created in 1896, this highly sought-after print is a color lithograph rendered on tan wove paper, demonstrating the artist’s mastery of the medium. Lautrec, known for his ability to translate the raw energy of Parisian nightlife into striking visual form, frequently utilized lithography to create posters, programs, and commissioned ephemera such as this menu.

The piece centers on May Belfort, the celebrated Irish cabaret singer who became a fixture of the Montmartre entertainment scene. Belfort was known for her controversial performance style, which juxtaposed a childlike demeanor and costume-often featuring a large bonnet and a kitten-with risqué song lyrics. Lautrec captures her distinctive profile with economic line work and bold fields of color, reflecting the influence of Japanese ukiyo-e prints that were popular in France at the time. As a functional object, the menu underscores Lautrec's deep involvement in the social and artistic circles of fin-de-siècle Paris, documenting both high society and performance culture.

Classified simply as a Print, the work exists as a crucial artifact for the study of the era's innovative graphic arts. This piece is housed within the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, contributing to the museum's comprehensive holding of French modern prints. Because much of Toulouse-Lautrec's prolific graphic output is widely digitized, these pivotal works, often entering the public domain, remain highly accessible for scholarly research and appreciation worldwide.