Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
View Artist Biography
Title:
May Milton
Date:
1950
Size:
9.75" x 12.5"
Medium:
Lithograph
Price:
$325.00
INV. #:
7735
MAY MILTON, Toulouse-Lautrec. Size: 9.75 x 12.5". Archival linen backed. 1951 lithograph printed by Mourlot Feres.
May Milton was an English dancer who performed at Parisian café-concert halls towards the end of the nineteenth century. This poster depicts her as a rather fey young woman, swirling her skirts in an absent-minded manner. Milton commissioned the poster from the artist to advertise her American tour and it appears on the wall of a room in Picasso's painting of an interior, Blue Room (Washington DC: Phillips Collection), executed six years later.
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 5 color lithographed reproduction of Lautrec's 1895 design for May Milton. The poster was shown at the Exposition d 'Affiches (Reims, 1896); a painting, done as a preliminary study, was shown at the retrospective exhibition of the Works of Toulouse-Lautrec, at the Galerie Manzi et Joyant (1914).
#MayMilton #affiche #ParisFrance #MoulinRouge #theaterperformer #oldposter #lithograph
May Milton was an English dancer who performed at Parisian café-concert halls towards the end of the nineteenth century. This poster depicts her as a rather fey young woman, swirling her skirts in an absent-minded manner. Milton commissioned the poster from the artist to advertise her American tour and it appears on the wall of a room in Picasso's painting of an interior, Blue Room (Washington DC: Phillips Collection), executed six years later.
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 5 color lithographed reproduction of Lautrec's 1895 design for May Milton. The poster was shown at the Exposition d 'Affiches (Reims, 1896); a painting, done as a preliminary study, was shown at the retrospective exhibition of the Works of Toulouse-Lautrec, at the Galerie Manzi et Joyant (1914).
#MayMilton #affiche #ParisFrance #MoulinRouge #theaterperformer #oldposter #lithograph