Description:Created in c. 1881, this unique pencil drawing features Toulouse-Lautrec's signature monogram stamp, 'TL' in red in the lower left.
Offering incredible insight to Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's form and technique in hand-drawn works, this Croquis features the visage and shoulder of a form, presumably a man, looking toward his upturned hat; it is a sketch done in a seemingly random and highly expressive manner. We are intrigued and curious while also engaged and perhaps slightly mystified at the identity of this masked man and the purpose of his playfully upturned, brimmed hat. Inspired often by the theatre and the Moulin Rouge of Paris during the late 1800s, this work came as a pre-cursor to his more iconic posterworks of the period.
PROVENANCE:
- Estate of the artist.
- Dr. Georges Viau, Paris.
- Marcel Guiot, Paris.
- Th. P. Halperin, United States.
- Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Schimmel, New York.
- R.H. Ellsworth, Ltd., New York.
- Property of a Private American Collection.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work) :
1. Dortu, M.G. Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre. Catalogue des dessins, vol. V, Collectors Editions: New York, 1971. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. D.2.259 on pgs. 372-3.
2. Lugt, Frits. Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d'Estampes, Amsterdam, 1921. Signature stamp listed and illustrated as cat. no. 1338 on pg. 240.
About the Framing:
Conservation framed with museum-quality archival materials, this work is set in a beautiful, Spanish-style gold and black moulding that gracefully complements this marvelous work. Its intricately carved detailing serves to accent Toulouse-Lautrec's ornate composition and even echoes the nature of his stroke and lines that outline the expressive movement of this masked character within Croquis. Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
