At the Circus: The Spanish Walk (Au Cirque: Le Pas espagnol)
Medium
Graphite, black and colored pastel, and charcoal on off-white heavy wove paper
Dimensions
13 3/4 x 9 13/16 in. (35 x 25 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.731
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec *At the Circus: The Walk (Au Cirque Le Pas espagnol)* created in 1899, the vibrant energy of Parisian circus life during the Belle Époque. The French Post-Impressionist artist, renowned his posters and depictions of Montmartre's bohem underbelly, was particularly drawn to the circus as a spectacle of human and animal performance. Here, he sketches a dynamic moment of equestrian dressage—the "Spanish Walk," where horses lift their front legs in a high-stepping gait—blending grace with the raw excitement of the ring. Rendered in graphite, black and colored pastel, and ...
About the Artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1864–1901
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (1864-1901) was a French Post-Impressionist painter, printmaker, and illustrator whose innovative poster designs revolutionized graphic art and advertising in late 19th-century Paris. Born into an aristocratic family at Albi in southern France, Toulouse-Lautrec's privileged lineage traced back to the Counts of Toulouse and extended uninterrupted to th...