Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Birth of Modern Paris
October 21, 2023–January 14, 2024
Gallery 120-121
Known internationally as a leading Post-Impressionist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901) made art that explores the cabarets, race tracks, music halls, circuses, cafés and brothels of bohemian Paris of the late 19th century. Filled with empathy and humor, his images offer a captivating, nearly journalistic view of Paris in la belle époque (the beautiful era). Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Birth of Modern Paris features more than 240 works that highlight the artist’s remarkable achievements in printmaking, where modern life blends with the flowing lines of Art Nouveau. Like few artists of his time, Toulouse-Lautrec merged art and life. He produced theatre advertisements, book covers, invitations, café menus and lithographs, without distinguishing between fine and commercial art. His famous posters, which adorned the kiosks of Paris and immortalized the era’s entertainers like Loïe Fuller, Aristide Bruant and Jane Avril, are shown alongside many original drawings—where we find the seeds of inspiration. Also featured are rare photographs of Toulouse-Lautrec and his family, with handwritten letters from the artist.
An internationally traveling exhibition, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Birth of Modern Paris is a single source exhibition provided by Pan Art Connections, with the support of The Museum Box.