Art Institute of Chicago

The Hairdresser, Program for the Théâtre Libre

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Date

1893

Medium

Color lithograph on cream wove paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Just as Japanese printmakers studied the lives of women in the Yoshiwara licensed pleasure quarters, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec represented contemporary women in Parisian theaters, cafes, and brothels. The black outlines and flat colors in this work may have been inspired by Toulouse­Lautrec's own collection of Japanese prints. Since color lithography requires separate stone blocks for each color, Toulouse-Lautrec was able to parallel the effects achieved in the Japanese woodcut technique. He was also fond of the red seals visible on many Japanese prints, and eventually developed his own circular signature in a similar style.

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