11/12/2001
by Matilde Marzotto

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is the artist that best described the belle époque. His renowned colour affiches, in which he captured the lively and uninhibited Paris of the brothels and the cafés, helped affirm the aesthetic potential of the advertising poster which today has collectors willing to pay six figure prices. Born in Albi in 1864, Toulouse-Lautrec was the first born child of an aristocratic family. In 1882 he moved to Paris where he studied painting and spent time in Montmartre and the environment of the night clubs that he depicted with passion. Even though he was successful, he died consumed by alcohol in 1901 at the age of thirty-seven, in line with the bohémienne tradition.

For the centenary of his death and in collaboration with the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec (Albi), an important travelling retrospective was held in Japan hosted by the museums in Osaka and Tokyo, while the Fondazione Mazzotta in Milan recently opened the exhibition The women of Toulouse-Lautrec, that will run until the 27^th of January 2002. The 110 works of art on exhibition in Milan that include paintings and lithographs, illustrate a varied feminine universe: next to the aristocratic friends of the family, Toulouse-Lautrec portrayed the singers of the cafés-concerts, the actresses and the prostitutes of the fin de siècle Paris.

To commemorate the centenary of Lautrec’s death, Sotheby’s New York organised a special auction in March last year called The Life and Art of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in which the graphic works, the posters and the drawings were accompanied by innumerable memorabilia brought together by the collector Herbert Schimmel between the Fifties and Seventies. In the sale, that raised a total of $ 3 million (€ 3,3 million), the affiches fetched good prices, confirming the predilection of collectors for certain historical pieces. Ambassadeurs - Aristide Bruant, the publicity poster created in 1892 portraying the singer Aristide Bruant, was sold for $ 170,750 (€ 193,640), more than doubling the pre-sale estimate ($ 50,000-70,000, € 50,070-78,500). The same figure was reached by a first edition of Moulin Rouge – La Goulue (1890) which depicts a dancer, who owed her nick-name to her habit of finishing the empties left by clients, launched in a wild "chahut". A poster made in 1892 for the "Divan Japonais", portraying the dancer Jane Avril, and the affiche Reine de Joie both beat their initial estimates ($ 30,000-40,000, € 33,640-44,850), each selling for $ 75,500 (€ 85,620).

This Autumn, the worsening international climate and market uncertainties conspired to undermine somewhat Toulouse-Lautrec’s auction performance. On the 7^th of November, Christie’s sold two oils with disappointing results. The first work Cheval de trait à Céleyran (circa 1881) eventually went for $ 30,500 (€ 34,590) against an estimate of $ 30,000-40,000 (€ 33,640-44,850). The second, Au Music-Hall: La Loïe Fuller, dedicated to the American dancer Loïe Fuller, who performed at the "Folies-Bergères" in Paris, had already been offered by the same auction house in Spring 1999 carrying an estimate of $ 300,000-400,000 (€ 336,390-448,500) and remaining unsold. This time the painting was valued at $ 120,000-160,000 (€ 134,560-179,400) and was sold at $ 110,500 (€ 125,300). The following day, Sotheby’s presented a peculiar ceramic plaque made in 1895 for the singer Yvette Guilbert, who had an inscription added: Petit monstre!! Mais vous avez fait une horreur!! Yvette Guilbert. A "horror" that eventually auctioned for $ 61,125 (€ 69,320).

For those wishing to bring the bohème home at lower prices it is a wiser move to keep an eye on the specialised auctions, dedicated exclusively to the artist’s graphic works and regularly organised even by the minor auction houses. For example, on the 5^th of November, Swann Auction Galleries in New York offered a few lithographs by Toulouse-Lautrec at prices ranging between $ 1,500 and 9,000 (€ 1,680-10,090), while at Sotheby’s New York, three days earlier, 17 colour lithographs had each carried an estimate of $ 5,000-10,000 (€ 5,600-11,200). For the first printed versions of the most famous affiches, however, prices generally stretch from $ 25,000 to $ 250,000 (€ 28,000-280,300), with to the record price of $ 882,500 (€ 1,000,800) having been paid in 1999 at Sotheby’s for the 12 colour lithographs of the celebrated Elles series depicting the world of the Parisian maisons closes. It is curious to note that the series, printed in 100 copies in 1896, was not an economic success, the attention given to the daily and domestic aspects of the lives of the prostitutes were considered dull by collectors. This year, more than a century later, the Elles lithographs once again failed to find a buyer. Put up for auction on the 31^st of October by Christie’s in New York with a generous estimate of $ 500,000-700,000 (€ 560,640-784,800), they went unsold, as they did just over a month later on the 6^th of December, at Sotheby’s London, where they were each offered with a much more conservative estimate of $ 5,670-8,500 (€ 6,400-9,600).