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1891 |
MOULIN ROUGE (La Goulue) : ordered by the Moulin
Rouge managers, Zidler and Oller, this poster presents La Goulue, star of
the only show: “le chahut” (the uproar). In front of a shadowgraph
audience and behind Valentin le Désossé’s gangly silhouette,
la goulue appears as a member of the naturalist quadrille called “the
guitar”. It is in this first four-colour composition that Lautrec’s
genius appears, and this is what creates a sensation when the poster is
displayed. |
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1892 |
LE PENDU (the hanged man) : ordered
by Toulouse daily paper “La Dépêche” (the Telegraph),
this poster was designed to illustrate a series called “Les drames
de Toulouse” (Toulouse dramas), of which “Le Pendu” (the
hanged man) is the first episode. It is one of the few posters in which
Lautrec allows a certain anguish to show through. |
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1892 |
DIVAN JAPONAIS (Japanese sofa – a
cabaret) : ordered by the manager of the Divan Japonais, this poster
unites two of Lautrec’s favourite models: Jane Avril in the foreground
dancing in the Moulin Rouge, and Yvette Guilbert, on stage, who captivated
men with her willowy figure and the black gloves she wore up to her elbows.
Lautrec brought prosperity to both women. To Jane’s right, we see
literary and music critic Edouard Dujardin. |
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1892 |
REINE DE JOIE (Queen of Joy) :
ordered by Lautrec’s friend and neighbour, novelist Victor Joze (pseudonym
Viktor Dobrski), this poster illustrates the release of the novel of the
same name. The design was used for the book’s cover. |
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1892 |
AMBASSADEURS (Ambassadors) – ARISTIDE
BRUANT : the Ambassadeurs is the most fashionable “café-concert”
(café where singers entertain the customers) on the Champs-Elysée
during this period. Bruant is an author and composer, singing realist and
often anarchic songs. Star of the Ambassadeurs, he demands that Ducarre,
the establishment’s manager, hang Lautrec’s poster on both sides
of the stage in his cabaret and all over Paris, threatening that he won’t
perform his show if these demands aren’t met. Ducare doesn’t
like it, but the poster is a triumph, and he realises his error at the end
of the show. |
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1892 |
ELDORADO (El Dorado)- ARISTIDE BRUANT :
Bruant loves the Ambassadeurs poster so much that he wants to use the same
one to announce his move to the Eldorado on boulevard de Strasbourg, the
most famous “café-concert” (café where singers
entertain the customers) of the moment. Lautrec prefers to invert the poster
and draw his monogram onto it, meaning that the first poster is signed THLautrec. |
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1893 |
JANE AVRIL (Jardin de Paris) (Paris Garden)
: Jane Avril, dancer, singer and actress, naturally went to Lautrec
for a poster when she appeared at the Jardin de Paris. Jane Avril was linked
to numerous painters. She had very close relations with Lautrec. She had
a great fondness for the painter who gave her numerous works… which
she always ended up giving to her lovers. |
