← Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Cléo de Mérode

Original title: Cléo de Mérode

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Date

1898

Medium

Crayon lithograph with scraper on china paper

Dimensions

sheet: 15 3/16 x 12 1/2 in. (38.6 x 31.7 cm) image: 11 5/8 x 9 1/16 in. (29.5 x 23 cm)

Credit line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949

kurzbeschreibung

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec drew the celebrated dancer Cléo de Mérode in 1898 using a crayon lithograph with scraper on china paper. The print presents her from behind inside a room.

Description

A woman sits on a sofa with her back to us, her wavy hair spilling over one shoulder. Behind her, other figures converse at a table. The view takes place indoors, likely in a café, and remains in shades of gray. Light falling from the front picks out the contours of the figures.

Context

Cléo de Mérode was a well-known dancer and social figure in Belle Époque Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec made the portrait as a lithograph, a medium he used often in the 1890s. The work dates from a period when the artist frequently captured nightlife and its participants in prints.

Impact

The rear view feels intimate, almost voyeuristic, while the everyday situation gives off a relaxed mood. The gray tones and delicate lines lend the sheet a calm, elegant presence.

Technique

For the lithograph, Toulouse-Lautrec used crayon on china paper and then worked it with a scraper to bring out fine highlights and textures. The china paper provides a smooth surface and detailed reproduction.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)