Cleveland Museum of Art

Yvette Guilbert

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Date

c. 1894

Medium

black crayon

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This drawing depicts Yvette Guilbert, a popular Parisian cabaret performer who was the subject of numerous prints, posters, drawings, and paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Here, Lautrec began to work out the composition of a poster that Guilbert commissioned from him to publicize her upcoming season at Les Ambassadeurs, a popular night club. A more finished study is part of the collection of the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, France, but the poster itself was never realized after Guilbert rejected the design as unflattering. Yvette Guilbert's cabaret act was centered on the distinctive long black gloves that she wore during performances.

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