Dudley Hardy

"The Gaiety Girl" from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series

1894

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, HENRI DE (1864-1901) "FEMME AU TUB" (Woman with Tub) From the series, “Elles”, c. 1896 Wittrock 159, Adhemar 204 From the edition of 100; per Wittrock Original color crayon brush and splatter lithograph, five colors, printed on wove paper Printed without margins to deckled edge of paper Bearing Artist’s Monogram Stamp...

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, HENRI DE (1864-1901) "LA CHAINE SIMPSON" Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris Bearing MDL stamp lower right, from issue #60, 1900. Plate #238 Unframed Size: 11 3/8 x 15 3/4” The "Les Maitres de l'Affiche" series was offered as a subscription series to collectors every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900. The "Maitres de l'Affiche," were issued as separate numbered sheets, referred to as "plates". They were numbered, with the printers name "Imprimerie Chaix," in the margin at the bottom left hand corner, "PL.1" to "PL.240." In the margin at the bottom right hand corner of each, is a blind embossed stamp from a design of Cheret's. The smaller format and the fact the "Maitres" were a paid subscription series, allowed Imprimerie Chaix to use the latest state of the art printing techniques, not normally used in the large format posters due to cost. A very high quality of paper was used, where as the large format posters were printed on lesser quality newsprint, due to cost and a short expected life span. This explains why the quality of the printing, in the "Maitres de l'Affiche," usually far exceeds that of their larger counterparts. "In her recent excellent biography of Lautrec, Julia Frey indicates that 'Henry, the frustrated athlete, was compulsively familiar with the vocabulary and technical aspects of a variety of sports in which he could participate as a spectator: horse and bicycle racing, wrestling, yachting, bullfighting. He watched them all with the same intensity that he watched a line of dancers or a circus bareback rider, attracted by the beauty of movement, but also by the smells, sounds and excitement of the spectacle (Frey, p.353) His 'insider' knowledge of the cycling field shows up abundantly in this poster for the French agent of the Simpson bicycle chain company. In the foreground is the champion cyclist Constant Huret. In the background are Tristan Bernard, the sports impresario who was a close friend of Lautrec, with Louis Bougle, the French agent who adopted the name 'Spoke.' A touch of levity is added by what appears to be a 'bicycle-built-for-ten' in the upper-left corner, in fact it's two five-seaters, known at the time as 'quints.'"(Rennert, PAI-XXII, 35)Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic background, having been born the son of an earl.Even as a schoolboy he showed a talent for drawing. By 14 he had suffered two horse back riding accidents, combined with a serious bone disease which eventually left him crippled for life. His body continued to grow but not his legs, he would remain only five feet tall and suffer pain and embarrassment his entire life.At the age of 18, Lautrec moved to Montmartre in Paris to study art seriously. He worked with artists Louis Anquentin, Emile Bernard, Degas, Van Gogh and others. He became a frequenter of the the cafes, cabarets and brothels of the neighborhood, drawing from them inspirations for his artistic themes. As the artist's stature grew, several magazines wanted to publish his work, including Le Rire. His subjects, as well as street life, included some of the most famous music-hall performers, with whom he became friends, such as Yvette Guilbert, La Goulue Jane Avril, May Milton, May Belfort...

Portrait of Philip Andreevich Malavin.1899.Paper, lithography, 32x23 cm, restored: professionally reinforced edges. Leon Bakst. (1866-1924)

Original vintage French opera poster: Antar. Artist: Georges Rochegrosse. Stone lithograph linen backed in very fine condtion, ready to fra...