Posters of Toulouse-Lautrec

Today I'm at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which has a fine permanent 

collection, but also brings many special traveling shows to the city.

Right now there are two splendid special exhibitions, one of them "The Posters of

Toulouse-Lautrec" and the other on "Pompei and Its Art."

The posters were created at the end of the 19th century as advertisements for

entertainment in Paris.  They were pasted on the columns / kiosks found all along

the streets of Paris.  But Toulouse-Lautrec's were special.  The above poster 

was his first, created in 1891 using lithography and made of three pieces

of paper and standing more than 6 feet high.  This had never been seen before.

It is a lithograph, created on large pieces of limestone.  People would see it for

only a few seconds as they walked by, so you wanted to grab their attention and

give them the message immediately, no fine print.

In this case, it is taking place at the Moulin Rouge, the hottest night club in Paris;

it stars "La Goulue," the most famous can-can dancer of the day; and there are

special performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  The artist's cousin is the

man silhouetted at the front, and we are right in the midst of the audience,

not seated apart and away.

Another very popular singer and entertainer in night clubs was Aristide

Bruant.  He was flamboyant and dressed always in a large black cape

and red scarf.  He hired Toulouse-Lautrec to make posters for him.

He performed at the "Ambassadeurs," a popular club, and then

when finances permitted, he opened his own cabaret.

M. Bruant liked to stride along the Champs Elysees or other

streets in Paris, with his cape and scarf flowing, so that people

would recognize him and hopefully come to see him in his club.

When "La Goulue" retired and moved away, she was replaced by a pretty and

shy young woman who went by the name of "Jane Avril," who was the

antithesis of the boisterous and flamboyant Goulue.  But "Jane Avril"

soon became an even more popular star and dancer, and Tourlouse-Lautrec

portrayed her several times in posters.   1893

Toulouse-Lautrec was much influenced by Japanese woodblock prints

which were being sold in Paris.  Notice how we are sitting immediately

beside the orchestra pit, right behind the bass player.  The flat colors of

the dress are made with greasy crayons on the stone, the speckled

appearance of the bass player and his arm were created by using a

toothbrush and toothpick and spraying the pigment on the stone.

TL experimented with many new and unusual techniques.

Jane Avril performed in the clubs of Paris for more than 20 years.  At the

age of 42 she retired and married a German artist, and they moved to a Paris

suburb.  But he was soon unfaithful, spent all her money, and then left her.

Without any financial support following his death in 1926, Avril lived

 in near poverty on what little was left of her savings.

Jane Avril died in a seniors' home in 1943 at the age of 75. She was interred 

in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

The "Divan Japonais" was another popular club.  The artist again makes

contrasting use of large areas of solid yellow, black, and orange, contrasted

with the speckled grey of orchestra and stage.  Like Japanese prints or modern

selfies on a cell-phone, he cuts off parts of the background and people - he

wants to make us feel as if we are right in the action.

Toulouse-Lautrec influenced other artists; this poster was made by

Theophile Steinlen.

The "Chat Noir / Black Cat" was a popular club, where many singers

and dancers performed.  Aristide Bruant performed there at times.

In this case, Rodolphe Salis was the headliner.

Jane Avril worked with  three other female dancers (Cleopatra, the Gazelle, 

and Eglantyne) and they did a special act with the can-can dance. 
TL created this poster to be used for advertising in London,
where they went on tour and were highly successful.

 The diagonal line of the dancers leads us right into the action and

onto the stage.  Each of the dancers could be easily recognized by the

public: guess which dancer is "The Gazelle."

The artist would sign his works in a way similar to Japanese artists,

who use a chop or small ink stamp.  Henri used his initials "HTL" (Henri 

de Toulouse-Lautrec) inside a circle, which you can see at the bottom left.

Th

One of the most influential women and art and literature patrons in Paris

was Misia Sert.  She was portrayed by most of the Impressionist artists at one 

time or another.  Here she graces the cover of a literary magazine, "La

Revue Blanche," which she helped found and supported.

This is the cover of the bi-monthly literary journal.

New books were also popularized with bold posters.  Here "Reine de Joie" by

Victor Joze has a racy image on the poster rather than on the bookcover.

But it was available "in every boookstore."

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There are more than 50 posters in the exhibit and show Toulouse-Lautrec

as a very hard worker and creative artist.  He came from an

aristocratic family, where marriage to cousins was common.  He

inherited health problems, and after some accidents with falling in his youth,

his legs stopped growing.  His torso was normal sized, but his legs were

short and tiny, so he could not participate in riding or dancing or other

activities of the aristocracy.  So he became an habitue of the nightclubs

of Paris and lived in the clubs and recorded their life.  He became

friends with the dancers and entertainers and promoted their careers.

At the exhibit, recordings of songs in the nightclubs are played in

the background;  they are wonderful.  It is a great show.

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