Yvette Guilbert

Yvette Guilbert is a distinctive lithograph in olive green created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1894. This work exemplifies the artist's dedication to the graphic arts, a medium that allowed him to distribute images widely and define the public image of the performers he admired. Produced during the height of the fin-de-siècle art movement, this piece captures the essential character of one of Paris’s most celebrated chanson singers. Toulouse-Lautrec, known for his incisive observational skills, often frequented the cabarets and theaters of Montmartre, treating the performers he encountered as muse and subject.

Toulouse-Lautrec repeatedly featured Yvette Guilbert, renowned for her dramatic stage presence and signature long black gloves, in his portfolio of prints. In this particular Yvette Guilbert image, the artist employs swift, suggestive lines characteristic of his style, focusing on gesture and silhouette rather than detailed realism. The choice of the lithograph process, utilizing olive green ink, enhances the moody, artificial lighting associated with Parisian nightlife of the late 19th century. This print demonstrates the mastery of a technique that elevated the commercial poster to the level of fine art, providing critical documentation of French society during the dynamic period spanning 1876 to 1900.

As an influential figure in Post-Impressionist graphic design, Toulouse-Lautrec’s immersion in the world of prints fundamentally shifted how commercial art was viewed by the European art world. This work is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, where it serves as a key example of how the artist documented the shifting cultural landscape in France at the turn of the century. Today, detailed reproductions of these historical prints are often available to researchers and the public through collections designated as public domain, ensuring the enduring accessibility of his unique and groundbreaking artistic vision.