Woman Combing Her Hair (Femme qui se peigne)

Woman Combing Her Hair (Femme qui se peigne) is a striking lithograph created in 1896, a collaboration between artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and master printer Auguste Clot. This piece exemplifies Lautrec’s profound interest in capturing the unvarnished, intimate moments of private life, a central theme in his French graphic output during the period 1876 to 1900.

The medium, a lithograph in violet and green-brown, utilizes a restricted yet atmospheric palette that heightens the psychological depth of the image. The lines are fluid and evocative, typical of Lautrec's draftsmanship, offering a momentary glimpse of a woman absorbed in the simple, mundane ritual of grooming. The print classification underscores the artist's dedication to the democratic nature of graphic art; Lautrec was instrumental in elevating printmaking from a reproductive medium to a primary form of artistic expression.

Clot’s skill as a printer was integral to realizing the subtleties of Lautrec’s vision. The successful registration of the distinct violet and green-brown inks—colors that reflect the avant-garde aesthetic of the late nineteenth century—required technical mastery. This collaboration resulted in a work that balances graphic immediacy with sensitive observation, moving past the formal portraiture dominant at the time.

As a significant example of French printmaking from this era, the work reflects the modernist impulse toward realism and the documentation of contemporary life. The subject’s anonymity and the focus on an ordinary domestic act place the piece within the wider historical context of European art moving away from narrative history painting. This key work in the artist’s catalogue of graphic prints is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.