Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)

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Title:
Babylone D'Allemagne - Book Plate XIII
Date:
1950
Size:
9.75" x 12.5"
Medium:
Lithograph
Price:
$350.00
INV. #:
14853
 
NAPOLEON; artist: Henri Toulouse-Lautrec; size 9.75" x 12.5". 1950 Book Plate XIII, Archival linen backed in excellent condition; ready to frame.

This is the second poster that Lautrec designed to advertise a novel by the Polish author Victor Joze. In the poster, a stiff Prussian officer sits atop a horse, a not-so-subtle jab at the German military. This is the first state of the poster contains none of the text of the title of the book, which was added later by a hand other than that of Lautrec. (It read 'Babylone d'Allemagne' )

Five colors; yellow; red-brown; blue, medium grey for the brush work; and dark grey.

In 1891, Toulouse-Lautrec decided to investigate the potential of lithography. Working with Pierre Bonnard's lithographer Ancourt, he learned the craft from the bottom up - and within months, brought it to an unprecedented artistic zenith. He managed to cram some 400 lithographs into the remaining ten years of his life, 31 of which were posters, and all of which were the cream of graphic design. His masterpieces define the limits of poster style: where Jules Chéret epitomizes a completely external, impersonal viewpoint, Toulouse-Lautrec is the embodiment of internal, personal vision with a point to make - not, to be sure, a moral judgment, but rather an amused, wry observation on the passing scene.
Once he became immersed in Paris nightlife, entertainers became his primary subject matter, but he was also known to create portraits and caricatures for many of his friends. He skillfully used lines and color to subtly imply background or props for his characters, and these touches incorporated reality with the already present warmth and charm in his posters.

This is a lithographed reproduction (1950) of Lautrec's 1895 design. It was designed to be entered for a competition organized by Boussod & Valadon, the subject of which was a poster to advertise Professor Sloane's Histoire de Napoleon 1er. The jury, which consisted of Detaille, Gerome and Vibert, awarded the first prize to artist Lucien Metivet.

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