Portrait of Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, three-quarter view by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901, captures the famed Parisian performer near the close of the 19th century. This work, dated 1898, is a superb example of the artist’s innovative approach to printmaking, a medium he championed for its expressive and commercial potential within fin de siècle France.
The piece is a sophisticated color lithograph executed on distinctive blue laid paper, a technical choice that enhances the dimensionality and saturation of the inks while contributing a unique tonality to the composition. Lautrec’s utilization of the lithographic process allowed him to achieve painterly effects and vibrant tonal contrasts, moving beyond the purely functional nature of commercial posters and firmly establishing the print medium within the realm of fine art. The subject, Marcelle Lender, a notable actress and dancer of the time, is rendered with characteristic dynamism and penetrating observation, typical of Lautrec's truthful portrayals of Parisian stage life.
As a chronicler of bohemian life and the vibrant theater district in late 1890s Paris, Lautrec frequently depicted figures like Lender, immortalizing the fleeting glamour of performance culture. The artist’s style, characterized by flattened forms and bold outlines derived in part from Japanese woodblock prints, perfectly suited the immediacy of the lithographic process and its impact on modern art history. This particular impression of Portrait of Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, three-quarter view is housed in the distinguished collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. High-quality reproductions of this artwork, which is now considered part of the public domain, continue to showcase Lautrec’s legacy as a master of modern French prints.
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