Artist: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864 -1901)
Medium: Original stone lithograph on wove paper
Signature: Signed in the plate, lower right.
Printer: Chaix Imprimerie, Paris
Reference: Les Maitres de l’Affiche Plate 2
Dimensions: 11 3/8 x 15 3/4inches
Framed Dimensions: Approximately 23 1/2 x 26 1/4 inches
Framing: This piece has been professionally matted and framed using all new materials
Divan Japonais is a lithograph poster by French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It was created to advertise a café-chantant that was at the time known as Divan Japonais. The poster depicts three persons from the Montmartre of Toulouse-Lautrec’s time. Dancer Jane Avril is in the audience. Beside her is writer Édouard Dujardin. They are watching a performance by Yvette Guilbert. Though her face is not included in the poster, she is recognizable by her tall, thin frame and long black gloves.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whose large, colorful posters were a familiar sight in Paris in the 1890s and remain popular to this day, has become a symbol of the Belle Epoque. A man of aristocratic background, he was a constant presence in the popular cafés, concert halls, and brothels of Montmartre as he sought escape from the despair brought on by physical handicaps. He also circulated freely among artists and intellectuals of the day.