Sketch (Croquis) is a singular print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1898, reflecting the artist’s sustained commitment to graphic arts late in his career. This work utilizes the challenging intaglio technique of drypoint, wherein the artist directly scratches lines into a copper plate using a sharp, pointed needle. The resulting burr holds the ink, producing characteristically soft, velvety lines that give the composition an immediate, tactile quality. As its title suggests, this piece functions as a spontaneous, preliminary study, typical of the swift, impressionistic approach Toulouse-Lautrec applied to many of his subjects.
Created near the culmination of the 1876 to 1900 period, the drypoint encapsulates the Fin de Siècle aesthetic of the French art world, characterized by an emphasis on capturing the realities of modern urban life with psychological acuity. Toulouse-Lautrec was renowned for his ability to distill character and movement with minimal formal elements, a talent demonstrated here even within the constraints of a simple sketch. This piece was classified as part of a larger Portfolio, underscoring its role as one study among a collection of observations the artist formalized through the medium of prints.
This spontaneous drawing emphasizes Toulouse-Lautrec’s skill with line and his ongoing preference for the immediacy offered by printmaking over the labor-intensive requirements of traditional painting in his final years. While the artist is perhaps most famous for his highly rendered color lithographs depicting dancers and performers, this drypoint focuses solely on spontaneity and the intimate connection between the artist’s hand and the copper plate. Today, this important example of late nineteenth-century French printmaking is housed in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. For researchers and collectors alike, high-quality prints derived from the original etching often enter the public domain, ensuring broad access to the work of this influential master.
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