Cover - Yvette Guilbert

Art Historical Context

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec *Cover - Yvette Guil* (1898) captures the vibrant spirit of fin-de-siècle Paris, time when Montmartre's cabarets pulsed with artistic and bohemian energy. This lithograph on blue wove paper portrays the iconic performer Yvette Guilbert, star of the café-concert scene known for her wit, elongated features, and provocative songs. Toulouse-Lautrec, a Post-Impressionist master of printmaking, immortalized performers like Guilbert in his posters, elevating them from entertainment figures to cultural icons. Printed in rich colors on textured blue paper, the work showcases Toulouse-Lautrec's revolutionary lithography techniques. He pioneered multi-stone color printing, layering vibrant hues with bold, economical lines to convey movement and personality. Measuring 21-1/4 x 16-1/8 inches, this cover—likely for a program or sheet music—exemplifies his ability to distill glamour and grit into flattened, poster-like compositions that influenced modern graphic design. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Mrs. H. Wolf, 1917), it reflects women's prominence in Toulouse-Lautrec's oeuvre, blending admiration with unflinching observation. A window into Belle Époque nightlife, it invites visitors to revel in the era's theatrical allure.

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...