_ Henri de TOULOUSE-LAUTREC -lenride Tou X)USE- IAUTREC ^ Henri de TOULOUSE' IAUTREC IMAGES OF THE 1890s Edited by Riva Castleman and Wolfgang Wittrock THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK Distributed by New York Graphic Society Books Little, Brown and Company, Boston The exhibition Henri de TouJouse-Lautrec, organized by guest curator Wolfgang Wittrock, has been made possible by a generous grant from Mobil Corporation. An indemnity for the exhibition has been provided by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Copyright © 1985 by The Museum of Modern Art All rights reserved "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: A Biography of the Artist" copyright © 1985 by Julia Frey "Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art of His Century" copyright © 1985 by Matthias Arnold Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 85-60790 Clothbound ISBN 0-87070-596-2 Paperbound ISBN 0-87070-597-0 Edited by Harriet Schoenholz Bee Designed by Joseph B. Del Valle Title lettering by Carole L. Lowenstein Production by Susan Schoenfeld Typesetting by Concept Typographic Services, New York Color separation by Fotolito Gammacolor, Milan Printed by Arti Grafiche Brugora, Milan /L.S. Graphic Inc., New York Bound by Torriani & C., Milan The Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street New York, New York 10019 Printed in Italy COVER: The Clowness at the Moulin Rouge. 1897. Lithograph, printed in color, 16Va x 129/ie" (41 x 32 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1946 FRONTISPIECE: Miss Loie Fuller. 1893. Lithograph, printed in color, in the original mat, 14V x 109/ie" (36.8 x 26.8 cm). 2 Bibliotheque Nationals, Paris Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Riva CastJeman Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: A Biography of the Artist 19 Julia Frey Toulouse-Lautrec and the Art of His Century 3 7 Matthias Arnold The Popularization of Lautrec 7 7 PhiJJip Dennis Gate Catalogue of the Exhibition 9 3 Wolfgang Wittrock Chronology: 1891-1901 255 Preface and Acknowledgments Fifty-three years ago the tenth exhibition of the young tion is also relevant to the Museum's continuing commit- Museum of Modern Art was devoted to two French artists ment to contemporary art. The work of Lautrec, whose of the late nineteenth century, Odilon Redon and Henri de inspiration came from the unconventional side of a swiftly Toulouse-Lautrec. Showing these artists lent a broader shifting urban society, has echoes today in the great variety aspect to the Museum's program since both had produced of expressions through which contemporary artists inter- notable prints as well as paintings. The exhibition allowed pret our own quickly changing culture. the Museum to show the importance that other mediums, We are particularly pleased that Mobil Corporation, such as lithography, had in the history of the modern known for its innovative and discerning sponsorship of movement. Perhaps most significantly, the exhibition dem- cultural projects, has provided the support to make this onstrated to one of the Museum's founders, Abby Aldrich exhibition possible. On behalf of the trustees and staff of Rockefeller, that it was possible and desirable to assemble a the Museum, I wish to express our deep appreciation to collection of Lautrec's prints that would eventually become Rawleigh Warner, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Mobil Cor- a particularly valued part of the Museum's holdings. poration, and to Allen E. Murray, President. I also wish to In subsequent years the Museum continued to show extend our very warm thanks to Herbert Schmertz, Vice Lautrec's paintings and prints to its growing public, and President, Public Affairs, and to Sandra Ruch, Manager, three more exhibitions of this artist followed, in 1933,1947, Cultural Programs and Promotion. Because of their early and 1956. Now, three decades later, there are new reasons to and perceptive interest, this special view of Henri de reexamine his work. Accepted as the most gifted and inno- Toulouse-Lautrec was given Mobil's enthusiastic support, vative printmaker of the late nineteenth century, Lautrec and we are most grateful for their many valuable contribu- provided the foundation for an unprecedented attention to tions to its realization. We also thank Barbara Butt and Janet printmaking by most of the major artists of the twentieth McClintock of Mobil for their generous assistance in the century. Furthermore, there has been increasing recogni- planning and implementation of related activities. tion of the primacy of printed images within this artist's We were most fortunate five years ago to be approached oeuvre itself. This exhibition has been planned to demon- by Wolfgang Wittrock with the suggestion that the Museum strate that lithography was of central significance to undertake an exhibition of the finest copies of Lautrec's Lautrec's creative production and to show how the prints prints. Based on his research for a new, definitive catalogue relate to his drawings and paintings. In recognizing the of the artist's printed work, Mr. Wittrock assured us that the increased importance and influence in our culture of fresh, unbleached, and otherwise unblemished examples works on paper and multiple impressions, this presenta- that he had seen would constitute a revelation. He claimed that these prints, together with related paintings, would ferstichkabinett, Berlin; Jean-Marie Guehenno, French dazzle the eye anew. As the guest curator of this exhibition, Cultural Counselor in New York; John and Paul Herring; he has fulfilled this claim. Riva Castleman, Director of Sinclair Hitchings, Keeper of Prints, Boston Public Library; the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, who co- Alfred Isselbacher; Colta Feller Ives, Curator in Charge, ordinated his work with her staff, joins me in expressing Prints and Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; the great appreciation of the Museum for his consummate the late Harold Joachim, Curator of Prints and Drawings, care, thorough professionalism, and uncompromising The Art Institute of Chicago; Jennifer Josselson, Christie, connoisseurship. Manson & Woods International, Inc.; Oskar Matzel; Michel Complementing Mr. Wittrock's extraordinary knowledge Melot, Director, Bibliotheque Publique de 1'Information, of his field, the authors of the essays for this book, Dr. Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou; Dr. Matthias Arnold; Phillip Dennis Gate, Director, Jane Nicholas Penny, Keeper of Western Art, Ashmolean Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University; and Museum, Oxford; Simon de Pury, Curator, Thyssen-Bor- Julia B. Frey, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, nemisza Collection; Andrew Robison, Curator of Prints have drawn upon their special expertise to illuminate the and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, B.C.; distinctive character of the artist and his times. We owe Rene Scharf; Mr. and Mrs. Walther Scharf; Barbara Stern them our admiration and gratitude, which are also due the Shapiro, Assistant Curator, Prints, Drawings and Photo- editor of this book, Harriet Schoenholz Bee, and its graphs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Bertrand du designer, Joseph B. Del Valle. Vignaud de Villefort; Henri Zerner, Curator, Prints, Fogg Art There are several truly extraordinary collectors of the Museum, Cambridge; Ruth Ziegler, Sotheby's. prints of Lautrec who have helped to realize this exhibi- Among the Museum's staff, I can only cite here a few of tion. Because of the breadth of his interests, one man in the many individuals who contributed to this exhibition particular has been absolutely vital. The quintessential and publication. The unusual number of objects required Lautrec collector, Herbert D. Schimmel, has generously unusual care; over 300 works were expertly handled and made his unique assemblage of letters, documents, photo- conserved by Eloise Ricciardelli, Registrar, and Antoinette graphs, posters, and prints fully accessible for study and King, Director of the Department of Conservation, and their exhibition. His assistance has been of inestimable impor- assistants, Emily Croll and Anne Craddock. Additional tance, and we are all extremely grateful to him and to his conservation of the large posters was done by Florence wife. The Museum is also deeply indebted to the many Hodes. The efficient coordination of the exhibition by other individuals and institutions, listed on page 260, who Richard L. Palmer and his staff eased many of the more parted with precious examples of Lautrec's work for the difficult tasks, as did the excellent work of Virginia R. duration of this exhibition. Coleman, Jeanne Collins, Jerry Neuner, Richard L. Tooke, In addition to individuals cited elsewhere, the follow- and Susan Schoenfeld. John H. Limpert, Jr., and Charles ing are owed special mention for their expert advice and Tebo secured the happy alliance of exhibition and sponsor. support in the planning of the exhibition: William A. Finally, neither the exhibition nor the publication would Acquavella; Jean Adhemar; Wieland Barthelmess; Laure have been possible without the remarkably dedicated and Beaumont-Maillet, Director, Department of Prints and Pho- comprehensive involvement of Audrey Isselbacher, tography, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Ernst Beyeler; Assistant Curator in the Department of Prints and Illus- Suzanne Boorsch, Associate Curator, Prints and Photo- trated Books, who supervised most of the essential ele- graphs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; ments of this project. Douglas Druick, Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago; Alexander Diickers, Curator, Richard E. Oldenburg Staatliche Museen, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kup- Director, The Museum of Modern Art