Your Mouth

"Your Mouth," created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901 in 1893, exemplifies the artist's sophisticated command of printmaking. This color lithograph, executed on ivory wove paper, showcases the flat planes and expressive lines that define Lautrec's distinctive graphic style. Working during the vibrant fin de siècle period in France, the artist utilized the burgeoning commercial appeal of the lithographic process to disseminate his observations of modern Parisian life. The classification of the work as a fine art print underscores the importance of reproducible media in late nineteenth-century art culture, moving beyond traditional unique paintings and drawings.

Lautrec often centered his artistic attention on portraits and character studies, giving unflinching focus to the human face and form, particularly those figures working in the world of entertainment and nightlife. Though titled simply Your Mouth, the intensity of the composition suggests a specific individual captured in a moment of emotional honesty, reflecting the intimacy Lautrec achieved through his illustrative technique. The artist’s ability to merge fine art sensibilities with the technical demands of commercial printing made his work instantly recognizable throughout France. This piece is representative of his significant output of high-quality prints from the 1890s. The work is held in the comprehensive collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it contributes to the understanding of Post-Impressionist graphic arts. Scholars often study these works, many of which are now in the public domain, to trace the evolution of modern French portraiture.