Henry Somm

Art Historical Context

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created this drypoint portrait of Somm in 1898 capturing a fellow French artist and illustrator for his witty caricatures and contributions to Parisian print culture. By the late 1890s, Toulouse-Lrec was already celebrated for his incisive depictions Montmartre’s nightlife, and this work reflects his ongoing interest in portraying contemporaries within the vibrant artistic circles of fin-de-siècle. Executed in drypoint, the showcases the medium’s distinctive qualities: the artist scratched directly into a metal plate, raising a soft burr along the lines that produces velvety, expressive textures when inked. This technique allowed Toulouse-Lautrec to achieve both delicate detail and rich tonal effects, qualities especially suited to intimate portraiture. As part of a portfolio now in the Rosenwald Collection at the National Gallery of Art, the print highlights his mastery of graphic media alongside his more famous paintings and posters. Toulouse-Lautrec’s choice of subject underscores the close-knit community of illustrators and printmakers who shaped modern graphic art at the turn of the century.

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...