RESEARCH General Art

ART
New exhibition showcases museum's Toulouse-Lautrec collection

Melissa Mitchell, Arts Editor
(217) 333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu

5/1/2001

Photo by Bill Wiegand The largest of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's posters, "Moulin Rouge – La Goulue," is part of the UI collection.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A century after his death in 1901, French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec still manages to capture the imagination of a public hungry for a taste of the licentious side of life in late 19th century Paris’ Montmartre district.

The artist and the real-life characters and celebrities he depicted in posters, prints and covers of books, magazines and sheet music are being resurrected in various quarters this spring – from Baz Luhrmann’s film "Moulin Rouge," selected as the opening-night feature at the Cannes Film Festival May 9, to a new exhibition on view through Aug. 5 at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Art Museum.

The 4-foot-11-inch artist left behind a sizeable body of art. By far, he is best known for his graphic-design efforts, especially the large-scale, brightly colored posters advertising cabaret shows and their stars. Many of those posters – along with other prints and drawings – are on view in the UI art museum’s new exhibition, "Toulouse-Lautrec: Artist of Montmartre."

The show, which will likely travel to other museums, features selections from Krannert's substantial holdings of works by Toulouse-Lautrec, as well art by Honoré Daumier, Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot, whose works relate thematically or stylistically to Toulouse-Lautrec’s.

"It is an important collection," said Krannert Art Museum Director Josef Helfenstein. "The only thing we don’t own is one of Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings. But the fact that we do have more than 40 lithographs, posters and drawings is unusual."

Exhibition curator Gisele Atterberry said the show includes the artist’s largest and smallest posters. The largest, "Moulin Rouge – La Goulue," remains one of his most popular images. It depicts the high-kicking can-can dancer La Goulue, or The Glutton (the stage name of Moulin Rouge star Louise Weber), and her partner, Valentin le Desosse, or The Boneless (stage name of Jacque Renaudin). The smallest poster, "Au Concert," shows a man and woman seated in a theater box. Also part of the exhibition is another widely recognizable poster: "Eldorado: Aristide Bruant," a simple and dramatic representation of popular café singer Bruant, who appears clad in a black cloak and wide-brimmed hat, clutching a cane.

Atterberry said Toulouse-Lautrec and other graphic artists working during the 1890s benefited from two major changes that took place during the period. "Paris was going through liberal times. Laws were being liberalized with regard to freedom of the press … the large-scale, color poster technologically and legally began to flourish." Atterberry noted that a tax was levied on poster-hangers of the day, and the posters were so popular with the public that they were frequently "snatched off the walls" as fast as they could be hung.

Accompanying the UI exhibition is a catalog featuring full-color images and details about each work, along with an essay by UI art historian Marcel Franciscono.