Terror of Grenelle (La terreur de Grenelle)

The influential work Terror of Grenelle (La terreur de Grenelle) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was created in 1894. This powerful print is a lithograph executed in a subtle green-black ink on fine Japanese paper, a material choice that enhances the delicate line work and textural nuances typical of Toulouse-Lautrec’s graphic production.

Created near the end of the 19th century, this piece exemplifies the dramatic shift in French art during the period of 1876 to 1900. Toulouse-Lautrec, renowned for his intense observations of Parisian nightlife and its characters, often utilized the classification of prints to disseminate his vision widely and immediately. Though the specific narrative behind the title Terror of Grenelle is not fully documented, the composition likely captures a moment of heightened psychological tension, scandal, or emotional drama associated with the Grenelle district of Paris, a working-class neighborhood across the Seine.

Toulouse-Lautrec’s distinctive style merges the influence of Japanese ukiyo-e prints with the immediacy and angularity of contemporaneous journalistic illustration. The use of simplified forms and heavy contour lines emphasizes the emotional impact of the scene rather than offering naturalistic detail. The artist's mastery of the lithographic process allowed him to experiment keenly with tonal value, evidenced here by the restrained application of green-black, which lends a somber, cinematic atmosphere to the image. As a pivotal example of late 19th-century French graphic work, this print resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, where it serves as a key representation of Toulouse-Lautrec’s indispensable contribution to modern printmaking and the documentation of fin-de-siècle life.