The Lebaudy Trial, Mademoiselle Marsy Giving Evidence

The Lebaudy Trial, Mademoiselle Marsy Giving Evidence by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901), is a masterful example of the artist’s skills in printmaking and his commitment to documenting the public life of the Fin de Siècle. Created in 1896, this powerful work is a lithograph, meticulously executed on tan wove paper before being laid down onto a cream wove Japanese paper backing. The sophisticated medium allowed Lautrec to capture the intense atmosphere of the courtroom with stark simplicity and immediate visual impact.

Lautrec, a keen observer of contemporary life in France, focused much of his artistic output on public and private drama. This lithograph captures a specific scene from the highly publicized Lebaudy Trial, a scandalous legal proceeding that gripped Parisian society at the time. As a critical figure in documenting the social history of the era, Toulouse-Lautrec often depicted actors, courtesans, and public personalities. The piece specifically focuses on the figure of the actress Jane Marsy, or Mademoiselle Marsy, as she testifies, likely drawn from press sketches or direct observation, transforming journalistic material into high art.

Characteristic of Toulouse-Lautrec’s later prints, the composition emphasizes stark lines and psychological intensity over naturalistic color, showcasing the expressive qualities achievable through the printing process. The classification as a fine art print demonstrates the artist’s role in elevating lithography into a major artistic medium during the 1890s. This significant piece of French cultural documentation, The Lebaudy Trial, Mademoiselle Marsy Giving Evidence, is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, making the image widely available for study and enjoyment.