Portraits of Actors and Actresses: Thirteen Lithographs: Anna Held

Portraits of Actors and Actresses: Thirteen Lithographs: Anna Held by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, created in 1898, is a significant example of fin-de-siècle graphic art in France. This individual lithograph belongs to a larger portfolio series dedicated to the celebrity figures and performers of the era. Toulouse-Lautrec, one of the foremost chroniclers of Montmartre’s cabaret and theatrical life, consistently excelled at capturing the essence of Parisian nightlife and its performers, elevating the popular medium of the print to fine art status.

The subject, Anna Held, was a highly popular Polish stage actress and singer of the period, known particularly for her appearances in operettas. Toulouse-Lautrec’s approach to portraiture was defined by an almost journalistic immediacy, avoiding romanticization to present the sitter with sharp psychological insight. His masterful control over the lithography process allowed him to achieve rich, subtle variations in tone and texture, perfectly suited for depicting the glamorous and often grueling world behind the footlights. This sensitivity to character is a hallmark of the artist's mature style.

Classified definitively as a print, the work is characteristic of Lautrec’s mature output before his early death. The continued study of pieces like Portraits of Actors and Actresses: Thirteen Lithographs: Anna Held provides crucial insight into late 19th-century French culture and the intersection of commercial appeal and fine art. This important impression resides in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.