Why Not? Once Does Not Constitute a Habit

The influential French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created the print, "Why Not? Once Does Not Constitute a Habit," in 1893. This complex and poignant lithograph epitomizes the artist’s characteristic focus on Parisian life, specifically the intimate, unidealized moments observed within the city's maisons closes (brothels).

As a master of the printmaking medium, Toulouse-Lautrec utilized the inherent immediacy of lithography to achieve expressive lines and tonal variations, capturing the psychological reality of his subjects. The composition focuses on a brief, uninhibited interaction between two figures, rendered without moralizing judgment, reflecting the casual atmosphere of the setting. The figures are depicted with a sense of weariness yet also tender connection, highlighting the humanity of individuals often marginalized in fin-de-siècle French society.

Produced during a period when the artist’s output of commercial and fine art prints was at its peak, this work demonstrates his stylistic influence on modern graphic design. Toulouse-Lautrec’s dedication to capturing unidealized reality through his prints solidified his reputation as a major figure in Post-Impressionism. The composition’s bold outline and simplified planes reveal a flattening of space often associated with Japanese woodblock prints, a major influence on French artists of the time. This rare impression of Why Not? Once Does Not Constitute a Habit is held in the distinguished prints collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it serves as a critical document of late 19th-century Parisian culture.