Toulouse-Lautrec’ s renowned prints and posters, contextualized within the milieu from which they arose
Though he was deeply engaged with painting and drawing, Toulouse-Lautrec’s lasting contribution to artistic practice was as a graphic artist. Through his prints and posters, he brought the language of the late-nineteenth-century French avant-garde to a broad public, through editioned prints, advertisements and contributions in reviews and magazines. He ushered in the first print boom of the modern era; taking advantage of lithography’s new potential for color and scale, he made both posters for the streets of Paris and prints for the new bourgeois collector’s living room. During his short career, he created more than 350 prints and 30 posters, as well as lithographed theater programs and covers for books and sheet music. The Museum of Modern Art’s collection of this material is stellar, encompassing over 100 prints and posters, his most important book projects, and many magazines, journals and other examples of printed ephemera. A cultural nexus, Toulouse-Lautrec connected artists, performers, authors, intellectuals and society figures of his day, creating a bridge between the brothels and society salons of the Belle Epoque. His work allows entry into many facets of Parisian life of the period, from politics and economics to visual culture and the rise of popular entertainment in the form of cabarets and café-concerts. Featuring an overview essay by Sarah Suzuki, Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at MoMA, this publication presents thematically organized groupings of Toulouse-Lautrec’s prints from the Museum’s collection, each accompanied by an illuminating essay on the theme. Inserted into the book is a 20" x 17" poster titled "Mademoiselle Eglantine's Troupe."
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) is best known for his portrayals of late-nineteenth-century Parisian life, particularly working-class, cabaret, circus, nightclub and brothel scenes. He was admired then as he is today for his unsentimental evocations of personalities and social mores. His greatest contemporary impact was his series of 30 posters (1891–1901), which transformed the aesthetics of poster art.
Sarah Suzuki is Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art.
"Jane Avril" (1893) is reproduced from Toulouse-Lautrec in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times
Ken Johnson
In the posters for which he became internationally famous by the mid-1890s, Toulouse-Lautrec captured the heady spirit of Montmartre’s night life, as much in form as in subject matter. With line, shape and flat areas of color, he created a restless vitality.
Apollo Magazine
Raiser Rexer
‘The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec’ deftly reacquaints us with the artist and his moment, reminding the viewer of the true extent of his maniacal talent.
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This weekend, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, opens The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec, an exhibition of prints and posters by the beloved French aristocrat, bohemian and lifelong alcoholic best known for his game-changing portrayals of Parisian nightlife; in particular, prostitutes. The 1892 lithograph "Queen of Pleasure (Reine de Joie)" is reproduced from the Museum's accompanying publication, Toulouse-Lautrec in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. In her catalogue essay, curator Sarah Suzuki writes, "His work creates a diaristic, nearly day-by-day account of his life: which venues he visited, which performers, plays or operas he saw, which songs he heard. In his dogged documentation, he was a non-photographic paparazzo, and a harbinger of our contemporary celebrity-obsessed culture. But he was also a performer himself, playing one role for his aristocratic family, and another as the outrageous drunk genius dwarf of bohemian Paris. His personal and professional obsessions, which he termed furias, were often performers in whom he likewise saw a successfully created and executed public persona. He paid special attention to those who, like him, truly inhabited their role." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.5 in. / 160 pgs / 185 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $50.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $67.5 ISBN: 9780870709135 PUBLISHER: The Museum of Modern Art, New York AVAILABLE: 7/31/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec Prints and Posters From The Museum of Modern Art
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Sarah Suzuki.
Toulouse-Lautrec’ s renowned prints and posters, contextualized within the milieu from which they arose
Though he was deeply engaged with painting and drawing, Toulouse-Lautrec’s lasting contribution to artistic practice was as a graphic artist. Through his prints and posters, he brought the language of the late-nineteenth-century French avant-garde to a broad public, through editioned prints, advertisements and contributions in reviews and magazines. He ushered in the first print boom of the modern era; taking advantage of lithography’s new potential for color and scale, he made both posters for the streets of Paris and prints for the new bourgeois collector’s living room. During his short career, he created more than 350 prints and 30 posters, as well as lithographed theater programs and covers for books and sheet music. The Museum of Modern Art’s collection of this material is stellar, encompassing over 100 prints and posters, his most important book projects, and many magazines, journals and other examples of printed ephemera. A cultural nexus, Toulouse-Lautrec connected artists, performers, authors, intellectuals and society figures of his day, creating a bridge between the brothels and society salons of the Belle Epoque. His work allows entry into many facets of Parisian life of the period, from politics and economics to visual culture and the rise of popular entertainment in the form of cabarets and café-concerts. Featuring an overview essay by Sarah Suzuki, Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at MoMA, this publication presents thematically organized groupings of Toulouse-Lautrec’s prints from the Museum’s collection, each accompanied by an illuminating essay on the theme. Inserted into the book is a 20" x 17" poster titled "Mademoiselle Eglantine's Troupe."
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) is best known for his portrayals of late-nineteenth-century Parisian life, particularly working-class, cabaret, circus, nightclub and brothel scenes. He was admired then as he is today for his unsentimental evocations of personalities and social mores. His greatest contemporary impact was his series of 30 posters (1891–1901), which transformed the aesthetics of poster art.
Sarah Suzuki is Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art.
