Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Petitdidier Collection, France
M. Fiquet, Paris
Moch Collection, France
Roy J. Carver, Iowa
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 15, 1983, lot 61
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 5, 2005, lot 227
Private Collection, Connecticut (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 20, 2007, lot 319)
Acquired at the above sale

Paris, Galerie Rosenberg, Expositions des oeuvres de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1914, no. 36

Maurice Joyant, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris, 1926, illustrated p. 257
Gotthard Jedlicka, Henri de Toulouise-Lautrec, Berlin, 1928, p. 387
Walter Kern, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bern, 1948, p. 18
Douglas Cooper, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, New York, 1966, p. 47
Denys Sutton & G.M. Sugana, The Complete Paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec, New York, 1969, no. 524a, illustrated p. 120
Madeline G. Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre, vol. III, New York, 1971, illustrated p. 441
Bruno Foucart, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris, 1986, no. 667, illustrated p. 129

The canvas is wax-lined onto a fiber glass canvas with an additional layer of melinex (mylar). There is a 2cm. by 4cm. area of retouching to the center of the bottom edge, a very small area of retouching to the bowler hat of the seated man to the left and further small specks of retouching to the bottom right, top left and bottom left corners, all visible under UV light. This work is in good condition.
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.

The present work was executed in Paris between late April and mid July during the final act of Lautrec's career, before his tragic demise brought about by chronic alcoholism. Right up until his timely death, Toulouse-Lautrec was to remain an acute observer of social behavior, and the subject of his work is the disengaged voyeurism of Parisian social society. The archetypal Lautrec motif of being led into the scene over the shoulder of a read three-quarter profile places both the viewer and the artist in the role of flâneur, both playing witness to and participating in the act of disassociated watching. At the same time Lautrec incites our curiosity and ignorance as the object of the woman's gaze is in fact directed outside the picture frame; indeed, the mystery of the scene is accentuated by the viewer's inability to discern the physiognomy of the central female in the white dress. The flâneur is therefore reduced to a peripheral spectator, observing but unable to interpret or interact with the social scene.