HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC LA REVUE BLANCHE. 1895.

50x36 inches. Edw. Ancourt, Paris.
Condition B+: restored losses in margins; repaired tears and restoration in image. Matted and Framed.
The Revue Blanche was an avant-garde magazine founded by the Natanson brothers. Contributors included France's best writers, musicians, artists and poets, who also comprised the literary circle associated with the magazine, a group whom Marcel Proust referred to as "the epitome of society life." The muse of the entire group was Misia Natanson, the wife of one of the founders. Renowned as a brilliant, charming and beautiful woman she was a source of inspiration for many of the members, including Pierre Bonnard, Jacques Villard and Felix Valloton, to name a few. Both Pierre Bonnard (in 1894) and Toulouse-Lautrec were asked to design a poster promoting the magazine and they both chose Misia, the living incarnation of the spirit of the Revue Blanche, as their subject. Lautrec's image is uncharacteristically soft and endearing, representing Misia skating. Some people have suggested that Lautrec had fallen in love with her, which would explain this rare, tender portrait. The fact that he depicts her without showing her legs lends the image a strange, unbalanced feeling, which adds to the mystery of the poster. DFP-I 835, Adriani 130, Delteil 355, Gold 92.