Skating, from Le Rire, No. 62, 11 January 1896

Skating, from Le Rire, No. 62, 11 January 1896 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec captures a fleeting moment of Parisian leisure at the close of the nineteenth century. Created in 1896, this artwork is a lithograph, a medium crucial to the artist’s prolific output in commercial and satirical prints. It was published in the popular French humor magazine Le Rire, a significant vehicle for graphic artists seeking to document contemporary urban life and social mores through illustration. Toulouse-Lautrec frequently contributed to this publication, utilizing the inherent reproducibility of the lithographic medium to disseminate his distinctive style widely to a middle-class readership captivated by the spectacle of the Belle Époque.

This piece focuses on the lively social interactions and public performances taking place among men and women at a roller or ice-skating venue. The composition employs the dynamic, almost cinematic angles and sharp psychological observations typical of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work. Rather than focusing on grand or idealized figures, the artist excels at quick, almost snapshot-like depictions of individuals caught mid-movement, often exaggerating silhouettes for humorous or critical effect. The work subtly comments on the fashionable pursuit of entertainment and the new social freedoms enjoyed by women in public spaces during this era.

The significance of Toulouse-Lautrec’s graphic arts legacy is well represented by works such as this, which serve both as journalistic illustration and independent artistic statements on modern Parisian society. Today, many of these historical prints, due to their age and original mass distribution, are accessible to researchers and enthusiasts globally; images like Skating, from Le Rire, No. 62, 11 January 1896 often fall into the public domain. This specific example of the artist's commercial output is currently housed in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.