Preliminary Design for the Playbill to "Le Chariot de Terre Cuite"

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|Félix Fénéon

1894 · Blue crayon heightened with white gouache · Drawings and Prints

Lautrec sketched anarchist critic Félix Fénéon striking a dramatic pose with arms outstretched atop an ornamental platform with an elephant-shaped base. This was Lautrec’s preliminary design for the playbill to Victor Barrucand’s adaptation of the fourth-century Sanskrit love story "Le Chariot de terre cuite" (The Little Clay Cart). Lautrec also designed the sets for the fifth act. Fénéon had a bit part reading the prologue in the production, which opened Jan 22, 1895 at the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre in Paris. Lautrec dedicated and offered the drawing to Fénéon.

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec|Félix Fénéon

Date

1894

Medium

Blue crayon heightened with white gouache

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Ruth A. Mueller, 2015