The Box with the Gilded Mask (La Loge au mascaron doré), program for The Missionary (Le Missionnaire) from The Beraldi Album of Theatre Programs, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, is a seminal example of late 19th-century French printmaking. Created in 1894, this work is one entry in a specialized album of 50 lithographs, highlighting the artist's profound engagement with commercial and theatrical design. Toulouse-Lautrec utilized the lithographic process masterfully, transforming what was fundamentally an ephemeral theater program into a highly sought-after collector’s print.
This lithograph exemplifies Toulouse-Lautrec’s characteristic focus on the illuminated interiors and vibrant social life of Parisian nightlife. The composition, centering on the observation deck or theater box (loge) and the decorative gilded mask (mascaron doré), suggests the hidden dynamics and performative nature of the audience itself, a recurring theme in the artist's oeuvre. The work, originally designed to advertise the production of The Missionary (Le Missionnaire), reflects the era's taste for sharp draftsmanship and economical, expressive lines. The vibrant French culture of the fin de siècle fueled a massive demand for such printed material, allowing artists like Toulouse-Lautrec to disseminate their images widely, contributing significantly to the popularization of poster and program art in the 1890s.
As part of the comprehensive Beraldi Album of Theatre Programs, the work documents a specific intersection of fine art and mass entertainment. The technical classification of this piece is a print, specifically a lithograph, making it a crucial object for understanding the proliferation of commercial art during this period. This example from 1894 confirms Toulouse-Lautrec's established artistic language just before the turn of the century. Today, this distinctive lithograph resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), recognizing its enduring significance both as a historical document and as a masterful piece of graphic art.
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