Prints

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Lot 121
  • 121

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Estimate
7,000 - 9,000 USD
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Description

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
  • La Bouillabaisse, Menu Sescau (Delteil 172; Adriani 127; Wittrock 94)
  • Lithograph
  • image: 240 by 162 mm 9 1/2 by 6 3/8 in
  • sheet: 350 by 220 mm 13 3/4 by 8 5/8 in
Lithograph, 1895, an impression from the edition of unknown but presumably very small size, on simili-Japan paper, framed

Condition

With wide margins, the print is in good condition apart from uneven discoloration throughout the sheet. Additional imperfections include several soft handling creases and scattered surface soiling. The verso, with a narrow band of black discoloration extending 12 1/2 inches through the center of the sheet. Two hinge remnants on the right sheet edge with associated creases on the recto.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Toulouse-Lautrec executed the menu to celebrate the opening of his friend’s, Tristan Bernard new hit play, Le Pied nickelés.  The menu includes two illustrations of Lautrec’s friends and clients.  Paul Sescau, who played banjo and host to the banquet at his 53 rue Rodier studio, appears at left.  A caricature of Maurice Guibert, a champagne merchant, is in the top right corner.  Almost everything in the menu is an inside joke or a reference to a contemporary event, the significance of which has been lost with time.

A (very) loose translation of some of the text follows.  We would like to thank acclaimed Toulouse-Lautrec biographer Julia Frey for her help translating the menu.

Salmis de Pedrix boje tzaria Krani – Salmis de Predrix is partride pate; boje tzaria krani means God Save the Tzar and was the title of the Russian national anthem.  The Franco Russian Alliance was signed in 1894 and Russian culture became all the rage.  The cultural phenomenon was the impetus for the lithograph Au Moulin Rouge – L’Union Franco-Russe (Delteil 50; Adriani 55; Wittrock 40. 

La Sarigue en Liberty – Sarigue means opossum - combined with ‘en Liberty’ it translates to free opossum.  So, an opossum roaming wild (i.e. not served at dinner).  This could be a reference to the rumor that Emil Zola once served Kangaroo at one of his dinner parties.  Most likely, Liberty also refers to London’s Liberty department store.  Toulouse-Lautrec was particularly enamored with the store’s flowered merchandise executed in the Arts Nouveau style.  Thus, La Sarigue en Liberty, could literally translate (Lautrec was an Anglophile), to Opossum dressed in Liberty.

Foies gras de l’oïe Fuller (Fuller refers to Marie Louise Fuller, a popular American dancer who performed at the Folies-Bergêre under her French nickname Loïe Fuller.  The French word for Goose is l’oie. By adding the apostrophe and keeping the trema (the two dots over the ‘I’), she becomes a silly goose. 

Pivre Lilas Frotteurs – This is lost to time.  However, this is probably a pure invention for an after-dinner liqueur that Lautrec created.  The word Lilas was included in the title of a popular after-dinner drink. Frotteur is strange but reveals the tone of the evening.   The word first appears in the French language in 1886 and refers to general sexually perverted behavior.  There is no direct English equivalent but the closest English phrase would probably be “subway pervert”.

&

Champagne Charlie - (A popular musical hall song in late 19th Century Montmartre.)