Yvette Guilbert from Le Café Concert

Yvette Guilbert from Le Café Concert is a key work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, created in 1893. This significant French illustration is drawn from a substantial portfolio of twenty-three lithographs documenting the vibrant Café Concert scene that defined fin-de-siècle Parisian nightlife. Classified formally as an illustrated book, the original portfolio included the wrapper front and a duplicate impression on the storage box, demonstrating the intentional commercial and collectible nature of the publication.

The work utilizes the lithographic technique, a medium Toulouse-Lautrec championed for its capacity for reproducibility and its effectiveness in capturing the immediate energy of his subjects. By embracing printmaking, the artist ensured his visual commentaries on the entertainment world would reach a broad audience, cementing his role as a leading figure in post-Impressionist graphic arts.

The subject, the celebrated performer Yvette Guilbert, was one of the most recognizable and striking figures of Montmartre. Toulouse-Lautrec expertly captured her distinctive stage presence, known for her expressive, angular gestures and her unique costuming, particularly the signature black gloves. His focus on individual personalities within the entertainment milieu provides an essential historical record of the era. Produced in 1893, these influential prints solidified Toulouse-Lautrec’s reputation as the foremost visual chronicler of modern Parisian life. This impression of Yvette Guilbert from Le Café Concert is housed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), affirming its lasting significance within the history of modern graphic arts and the illustrated book format.