Divan Japonais
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Divan Japonais
Lithograph
December 1895
An original Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Lithograph print.
December 1895
Original lithograph printed in colors on wove paper.
Signed on the stone lower right T-Lautrec.
A superb impression of the definitive state from the edition on this paper (there was also a small edition on Japan paper). Transcribed from Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1893 poster of the same title by artisans at Atelier Chéret and issued as plate 2 (of 256) in the series Le Maîtres de l’Affiche, bearing the blindstamp of the program (Lugt 1777c) in the sheet lower right. Published by Jules Chéret; printed at Impremiere Chaix (Atelier Chéret), Paris.
Catalog: Masters of the Poster pl. 2.
11 7/16 x 8 3/4 inches
Sheet Size: 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 inches
Divan Japonais was one of the many café-concerts in late nineteenth-century Paris frequented by Toulouse-Lautrec. His poster advertising the nightspot features two of his favorite Montmartre stars, Yvette Guilbert and Jane Avril. Here, Avril is a spectator, not a performer, as she sits in the foreground with Édouard Dujardin, a dandyish writer and nightclub habitué. In the upper left corner, on stage, is the headless body of Guilbert, recognizable by her trademark long black gloves and gaunt physique.
