May Belfort
Medium
Crayon lithograph on china paper
Dimensions
sheet: 15 7/16 x 12 7/16 in. (39.2 x 31.6 cm) image: 11 3/4 x 9 7/16 in. (29.8 x 24 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949
Accession Number
49.55.154
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec *May Belfort* (1898) captures the vibrant spirit of fin-de-siècle Paris through striking crayon lithograph portrait of the Scottish music-hall performer May Belfort. Known for bold, risqué songs like "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me Bow-Wow," Belfort embodied the bohemian allure of Montmartre's cabarets during the Belle Époque. Toulouse-Lautrec, a master chronicler of this underworld, immortalized her with her signature black poodle and mischievous gaze, highlighting the era's fascination with celebrity and nightlife. Rendered in crayon lithography on delicate china paper, the...
About the Artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|May Belfort · 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...