Sketchbook, 1880
Medium
Sketchbook of drawings containing 47 leaves including both end sheets by the artist. The media are pencil, black grease crayon and occasionally pen and ink and watercolor. Drawings on both sides of each leaf except 7
Dimensions
15.9 × 25.7 cm (6 5/16 × 10 1/8 in.)
Classification
sketchbook
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
64560
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This intimate sketchbook from 1880 offers a rare glimpse into the early artistic explorations of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, created when the French artist was just sixteen years old. At this formative stage, before his celebrated depictions of Parisian nightlife, the young Toulouse-Lautrec used the portable volume to practice drawing from life and experiment with various media. Its modest size—roughly the dimensions of a small notebook—made it ideal for carrying on travels or daily outings, reflecting how artists of the period often honed their observational skills through constant sketching. The sketchbook contains forty-seven leaves filled with drawings executed primarily in pencil and black grease crayon, with occasional touches of pen and ink or watercolor. Most pages feature work on both sides, revealing a practical and prolific approach to capturing fleeting impressions. These personal studies highlight Toulouse-Lautrec’s developing command of line, shading, and composition during his youth. As a rare surviving example of the artist’s student-era work, this sketchbook underscores the importance of drawing as the foundation of his later Post-Impressionist style. Today housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings department, it invites visitors to appreciate the quiet, behind-the-scenes process behind one of the nineteenth century’s most distinctive artistic voices.
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...