Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

A good, fresh and vibrant impression of this portrait of the variété dancer Mademoiselle Lender, who appeared in the operettas popular in Paris at the end of the 19th century. One of her performances—the operetta revue Chilpéric—remained particularly memorable, as it inspired Toulouse-Lautrec to create a painting and a series of six lithographs. The most celebrated sheet of this group is the bust-length portrait of Marcelle Lender, printed in eight colours, depicting her in a Spanish fantasy costume as she receives the audience’s ovations. The lithograph was published in 1895 in an edition of 1,211 impressions in the first volume of the journal Pan, one of the leading German-language magazines devoted to art and culture, which served as a platform for numerous artists and intellectuals opposing the conservative artistic and cultural policies of the Wilhelmine era. Published by the journal Pan, Paris, in conjunction with the French supplement to Vol. I, No. 3, with the blindstamp (Lugt 2011a). – Minor scattered spotting and studio marks, the sheet slightly wavy with faint creasing inherent to the printing process; occasional handling creases and a horizontal centrefold, the right edge with small tears, otherwise in good condition.