The Seated Clowness (Mademoiselle Cha-u-ka-o), from "Elles"

The Seated Clowness (Mademoiselle Cha-u-ka-o), from "Elles," is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1896. This remarkable work is extracted from the artist’s seminal Elles portfolio, a series that provided an intimate, often unvarnished, view into the private lives of working women in the brothels of fin-de-siècle Paris. The subject, Cha-u-ka-o, was a highly recognizable acrobat and one of the famous female clowns performing at the Moulin Rouge, a figure frequently captured in Toulouse-Lautrec’s portrayals of Parisian nightlife.

This sophisticated piece showcases the artist's technical mastery of the lithograph medium. The image was created using a combination of crayon, brush, and spatter techniques printed in five distinct colors, enhanced by the scraping technique used to achieve highlights and textural depth. This complex process resulted in only one known state, printed on wove paper bearing the distinct G. Pellet / T. Lautrec watermark, confirming the meticulous nature of its specialized production.

Lautrec specialized in documenting the vibrant, yet frequently solitary, figures inhabiting Montmartre. In this piece, the subject is rendered outside of her performance setting, offering a quiet psychological study of the women who sustained the Belle Époque entertainment industry. By depicting the performer as a seated figure and focusing on her costume and posture, the work transcends simple portraiture to become an empathetic character study. Prints such as this defined the artist's reputation as a key chronicler of the period. This exemplary piece of early modern prints is currently housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to its age and stature as an iconic work of graphic art, the piece is often referenced in discussions regarding the history of public domain art and modern lithography.