Polish Jews, Carlsbad, from Au Pied du Sinaï

Polish Jews, Carlsbad, from Au Pied du Sinaï is a powerful lithograph created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1897. This black-and-white print, executed on ivory wove paper, captures a specific ethnographic moment documented during the artist's trips to the popular Bohemian spa town of Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary). Lautrec was an innovative master of the print medium, often utilizing the sharp contrasts and textures afforded by lithography to capture the rapid, reportorial quality of modern social observation.

This specific image was commissioned as one of ten illustrations for the travelogue and polemic Au Pied du Sinaï (At the Foot of Sinai) by his friend and political figure Georges Clemenceau, which focused on the lives and experiences of Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. The subject focuses particularly on the Polish Jewish clientele who traveled to the spa for health treatments, depicting them with characteristic hats and attire.

Lautrec’s economical yet potent composition highlights the individuality of the figures, rendering them as specific character studies rather than generalized types. The work is characteristic of the French fin-de-siècle output produced during this period, known for its focus on documentary realism and the exploration of diverse social environments. As one of the notable prints from his late career, Polish Jews, Carlsbad demonstrates Lautrec’s masterful control over line and tone, creating profound characterizations within the limitations of a monochrome illustration. This important piece of French graphic arts is permanently housed in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.