Lot 400
  • 400

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Estimate
350,000 - 450,000 USD
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Description

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
  • Lucien Guitry et Jeanne Grânier
  • Stamped with the artist's monogram (lower left)
  • Peinture à l'essence on board
  • 25 1/4 by 20 7/8 in.
  • 64.2 by 53 cm

Provenance

Heim Collection, Munich (and sold: April 30, 1914, lot 5)
Henri Bernstein, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
Sale: Sotheby's, London, June 28, 1978, lot 23
Private Collection, Europe (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, December 1, 1992, lot 5)
Acquired at the above sale

Exhibited

Kansas City, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1945 (on loan)
New York, Wildenstein & Co., Six Masters of Impressionism, 1948, no. 32
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Toulouse-Lautrec, 1979, no. 78, illustrated in the catalogue

Literature

Maurice Joyant, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864-1901, I. Peintre, Paris, 1926, pp. 200 & 288
Gotthard Jedlicka, Toulouse-Lautrec, Berlin, 1929, illustrated p. 277
Hanspeter Landolt, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Farbige Zeichnungen, Basel, 1954, no. 16
Madeleine G. Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre, vol. III, New York, 1971, no. P.577, illustrated p. 351

Condition

This work is in very good condition. Executed on board. The board is sound. Frame abrasion to the extreme outer perimeter is evident, including some minor water staining to the extreme bottom right corner and toward the upper right corner. The surface is somewhat time stained and scattered stains (both from the natural inclusions on the board as well as from the artist's studio) are scattered throughout. The medium remains strong and fresh.
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

The actors Lucien Guitry (1860-1925) and Jeanne Granier (1852-1939), who played opposite each other in Maurice Donnay's Les Amants at the end of 1895, are portrayed in two other works by Lautrec, an oil sketch (Dortu no. P.576) and a watercolor (Dortu no. A.227).

"Lautrec's interest in theatrical subjects intensified towards the end of 1893, when the newspaper L'Escarmouche  employed him to prepare illustrations of current stage successes. At the same time he began to collaborate with acquaintances at the avant-garde Théâtre Libre, for whom he designed programmes and occasionally worked on sets. The success of these projects undoubtedly contributed to several important commissions during the next years when Lautrec specialised in theatrical subjects... The [present] picture, an extraordinary example of Lautrec's economical methods of characterization, explores the poses and costumes of Guitry and Granier in the roles of Georges Vétheuil and Claudine Rosay respectively. It is impossible to associate Lautrec's study with any specific scene in Donnay's comedy, since the development of its plot depends almost entirely upon intimate conversations between these urbane characters. Les Amants was a sophisticated version of a common theme: the frustrations of adulterous passions. Both veteran flirts, Vétheuil and Rosay go through all the motions of an affair, and finally agree for the sake of convenience to be merely friends. The paradox of passion coupled to detachment is the innovative humour of Donnay's play, which must have had a special appeal for Lautrec, himself a cynical observer of the rites of seduction" (Charles F. Stuckey in Toulouse-Lautrec (exhibition catalogue), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1979, p. 249).