The Milliner, Renée Vert
Medium
Color lithograph on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 45.9 × 28.7 cm (18 1/8 × 11 5/16 in.); Sheet: 50.9 × 32.2 cm (20 1/16 × 12 11/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
67132
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Dinner parties and celebrations were near constant events for Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s coterie of friends and fellow artists. Throughout the last decade of the 19th century, Lautrec designed menus for these alcohol-fueled affairs, frequently filling them with inside jokes and illustrations of his companions. This menu was created for a June 1893 party for the Société des Artistes Indépendants (Society of Independent Artists) and features a milliner and her hats, with Lautrec’s mark appearing ...
Art Historical Context
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec *The Milliner, Renée Vert* (1893) captures the vibrant spirit of fin-de-siècle Paris through a masterful color lithograph on ivory wove paper. about 46 × 29 cm, this print from the Art Institute of Chicago Prints and Drawings collection showcases the artist's fascination with the everyday glamour of Montmartre's working women. Renée Vert, amaker (milliner), embodies the independent, stylish figures Toulouse-Lautrec often portrayed—part of the bohemian demimonde that fueled Belle Époque nightlife. As a Post-Impressionist innovator, Toulouse-Lautrec revolutionized printmaking by elevating color lithography from commercial posters to fine art. He used multiple lithographic stones to layer vivid hues and bold contours, creating a flattened, theatrical composition that draws viewers into intimate street scenes. This technique made his works affordable and widely accessible, democratizing art during an era of rapid urbanization and cultural ferment. *The Milliner* highlights the cultural role of milliners as trendsetters in Parisian fashion, blending observation with subtle caricature. Toulouse-Lautrec's empathetic gaze on his subjects reveals the poetry in ordinary lives, making this piece a window into 1890s society and his enduring legacy in modern graphic design.
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...