The Coiffure (Playbill for the Théâtre Libre)
Medium
Crayon and brush lithograph printed in three colors on imitation japan paper; second state of two
Dimensions
Sheet: 19 13/16 in. × 13 in. (50.3 × 33 cm) Image: 13 in. × 10 1/16 in. (33 × 25.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982
Accession Number
1984.1203.140
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's *The Coiffure* (1893) is a captivating color lithograph poster created as a playbill for the avant-garde Théâtre Libre in Paris. Produced in collaboration with printer Édouard Kleinmann, lithographer Eugène Verneau, and the theater itself, this second-state impression on imitation Japan paper measures about 20 by 13 inches. The image, centered on an intimate hairdressing scene, features men and women amid mirrors, brushes, and combs—evoking the everyday glamour and voyeuristic allure of fin-de-siècle Parisian life. Toulouse-Lautrec, a Post-Impressionist master of the Belle Époque, revolutionized poster art through his bold lithography, transforming ephemeral advertisements into collectible fine art. This work promotes the Théâtre Libre, founded by André Antoine in 1887 as a hub for naturalist drama that broke from theatrical conventions, emphasizing realism over melodrama. Lautrec's posters, like this one, immortalized Montmartre's bohemian culture, cabarets, and social scenes, blending satire with empathy for the working class. Crafted with crayon and brush in three vibrant colors, the technique highlights Lautrec's innovative approach: fluid lines and subtle shading mimic painting while leveraging lithography's mass-reproducibility. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982), *The Coiffure* exemplifies how posters bridged art and commerce, capturing a fleeting moment of vanity and camaraderie in late 19th-century France.
About the Artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|Edouard Kleinmann|Eugène Verneau|Théâtre Libre · 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...