Text by Helen Burnham. Contributions by Mary Weaver Chapin, Joanna Wendel.
The stars and denizens of Toulouse-Lautrec's bohemian cabaret world
Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris offers a guided tour of fin-de-siècle Paris at night, bringing a group of its legendary protagonists to life.
The six performers at the center of this book—Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril, Aristide Bruant, Marcelle Lender, May Belfort and Loïe Fuller—were all depicted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and in some ways defined by his iconic renderings. Actors and actresses, comedians, cabaret singers and dancers, these figures were the stars of the new entertainments of 19th-century Paris.
This booming nightlife scene coincided with new developments in modern printmaking. Lautrec immortalized the performances and personas of the city’s entertainers in colorful lithographs, elevating the advertising poster to the status of high art. Artist and performer collaborated to exploit a new culture of entertainment and mass media, creating a new kind of celebrity in the process.
Lavishly illustrated with high-quality, full-color reproductions of Lautrec’s iconic images alongside some of his rarely seen sketches, and illuminated by insightful essays, this volume shines a spotlight on the stars of the Paris stage, the birth of modern celebrity culture and the brilliance of the artist who gave them enduring life.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) was the descendant of an old and distinguished aristocratic family from the south of France, but he found his true home in the bars and nightclubs of the Montmartre distinct in Paris. In a brief mature career of only 15 years (Lautrec died at age 36 from complications of alcoholism and syphilis), the artist was stunningly prolific, producing approximately 1,000 paintings and watercolors, nearly 5,000 drawings and more than 350 prints and posters.
"Mademoiselle Églantine's Troupe" (1896) is reproduced from 'Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
L'Officiel USA
A companion to the MFA Boston’s exhibition gives center stage to the famed fn de siècle artist known for his depictions of Montmartre’s luminaries at the height of the Belle Époque.
Featured image is an 1895 lithograph from the catalog to MFA Boston's current exhibition, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris, organized around six of the artist's legendary muses of the bohemian cabaret world. Titled "Marcelle Lender," the stage name of Anne-Marie Marcelle Bastien, this print captures one of the most beloved stars of Paris's light opéra bouffe. According to Joanna Wendel, Lautrec's interest in Lender blossomed into an obsession when he saw her perform a Spanish-style bolero in the light opera Chilpéric that same year. "The production was a striking success, running for more than a hundred performances and drawing praise for its lavish set and costume designs." Wendel quotes a letter from Lautrec to French writer Romain Coolus: "I come strictly in order to see Lender's back… Look at it carefully; you seldom see anything so magnificent. Lender's back is sumptuous." She concludes by speculating that Lautrec may have drawn inspiration for the composition from Japanese color woodcut portraits of courtesans, noting the unusually prominent Japanese-style monogram in the upper left corner. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 9.75 in. / 112 pgs / 85 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $29.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $45 GBP £20.00 ISBN: 9780878468591 PUBLISHER: MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston AVAILABLE: 4/23/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Text by Helen Burnham. Contributions by Mary Weaver Chapin, Joanna Wendel.
The stars and denizens of Toulouse-Lautrec's bohemian cabaret world
Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris offers a guided tour of fin-de-siècle Paris at night, bringing a group of its legendary protagonists to life.
The six performers at the center of this book—Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril, Aristide Bruant, Marcelle Lender, May Belfort and Loïe Fuller—were all depicted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and in some ways defined by his iconic renderings. Actors and actresses, comedians, cabaret singers and dancers, these figures were the stars of the new entertainments of 19th-century Paris.
This booming nightlife scene coincided with new developments in modern printmaking. Lautrec immortalized the performances and personas of the city’s entertainers in colorful lithographs, elevating the advertising poster to the status of high art. Artist and performer collaborated to exploit a new culture of entertainment and mass media, creating a new kind of celebrity in the process.
Lavishly illustrated with high-quality, full-color reproductions of Lautrec’s iconic images alongside some of his rarely seen sketches, and illuminated by insightful essays, this volume shines a spotlight on the stars of the Paris stage, the birth of modern celebrity culture and the brilliance of the artist who gave them enduring life.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) was the descendant of an old and distinguished aristocratic family from the south of France, but he found his true home in the bars and nightclubs of the Montmartre distinct in Paris. In a brief mature career of only 15 years (Lautrec died at age 36 from complications of alcoholism and syphilis), the artist was stunningly prolific, producing approximately 1,000 paintings and watercolors, nearly 5,000 drawings and more than 350 prints and posters.
