Cleveland Museum of Art

May Belfort

Henri de Toulouse-LautrecLinkedCulture matchlcp-83c094d8930a

Date: 1895
Medium: oil on millboard
Culture: France, 19th century
Department: Drawings
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 135515

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inspired by café concerts, popular places of Parisian entertainment that featured singers or other performers. This drawing depicts May Belfort, one such entertainer, who the artist discovered in 1895 during a visit to the popular nightclub Les Décadents. Belfort soon became one of Lautrec's favorite models and is seen here wearing the ruffled dress and bonnet that became a signature of her performances. The singer adopted a babyish voice and stood motionless on the stage, encouraging her fans to shout lyrics along with her. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted May Belfort in numerous prints, drawings, posters, and paintings.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
Provenance: ?-by 1909: (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris) | after 1909-?: (Etienne Bignou, Paris) | ?-?: (Alexander Reid & Lefevre, Ltd., London) | ?-1927: (Kraushaar Galleries, New York) | 1927-1931: Lizzie P. Bliss [1864–1931], New York, by descent to her estate | 1931-after 1934: estate of Lizzie P. Bliss, New York | after 1934-1948: George M. Moffett, Jr., Queenstown, MD | 1948: (Maynard Walker Gallery, New York) | 1948-1958: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. [1889–1957], Cleveland, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH | 1958-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Part of LinkedCulture topics

19th Century French Café-Concert Scenes
These prints and drawings document the popular café-concert entertainment venues of 19th-century Paris and France, primarily created through lithography to capture performers, audiences, and the vibrant nightlife culture
98 objects from 4 institutions
Belle Époque Entertainer Portraits
These objects are lithographic prints and drawings depicting May Belfort and May Milton, popular French cabaret performers from late 19th-century Paris, created primarily through color lithography techniques.
31 objects from 3 institutions