HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC MADEMOISELLE MARCELLE LENDER, EN BUSTE. 1895.

14 1/4x10 3/4 inches. Pan.
Condition A-: minor foxing in right margin; discoloration at edges. Paper.
Marcelle Lender (1862-1926) starred in many of the operettas and comic operas popular at the end of the 19th century. One of her shows, Chilperic was justifiably unmemorable except that it inspired Lautrec to design six lithographs (Adriani 110-115). This is by far the best image from that series and the only one that is in color. Lautrec depicts her bowing after an extravagant Spanish dance with which he was particularly fascinated. To render her wild attire and hairdo he uses eight colors with chalk, ink with brush and a spraying/splatter technique. As Adriani notes, "no other lithograph is printed with such wealth of subtle color combinations and none embodies, as this does, the opulent decoration of an age moving towards its close." This is from the edition of 1100 printed for the magazine Pan, which were inserted in volume I, no. 3 of the periodical. An edition of 1211 impressions followed for the Berlin magazine Pan, 1100 of these printings were inserted in volume I, no. 3 of the periodical.