Jane Avril (from Le Café Concert)

Art Historical Context

In the vibrant world of 1890s Paris, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec the electric energy of café-concert performers in his *Jane Avril (from Le Café Concert)* a masterful 1893 brush and sp lithograph. Printed in black on wove paper, this only-state impression showcases the artist's innovative technique, blending fluid brushstrokes with spattered effects to evoke movement and immediacy. Jane Avril, a celebrated dancer known for her dynamic stage presence, is depicted with Toulouse-Lautrec's signature for the demimonde of Montmartre nightlife. This print hails from *Le Café Concert*, a collaborative album featuring contributions from Edward Ancourt, l'Estampe Originale publishers, and text by Georges Montorgueil. Toulouse-Lautrec, a pioneer of modern poster art and Post-Impressionism, elevated lithography from commercial advertising to fine art, immortalizing the Belle Époque's café-concert culture—lively venues blending music, dance, and theater that enthralled Parisian audiences. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (thanks to the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1923), this intimate work (image: 10½ × 8⅞ in.) highlights women's pivotal roles as performers. Its stark monochrome intensity draws viewers into Avril's poised yet spirited world, a testament to Toulouse-Lautrec's genius for distilling fleeting moments into enduring icons.

About the Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|Edward Ancourt|l'Estampe Originale|Georges Montorgueil · 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...