?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 8,000
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (1864-1901) LE DEUXIEME VOLUME DE BRUANT. 1893. 31 5/8x23 7/8 inches. Chaix, Paris. Condition B: repaired tears and restored losses in margins and image. Aristide Bruant gained fame when he first appeared at the Chat Noir. By 1885, he was able to open his own cabaret, where he sang his popular, socially oriented repertory. As part of his act he would insult his bourgeois clients, who were thrilled to be abused by him. Bruant was one of the first performers to admire Toulouse-Lautrec. In 1892 Lautrec created one of his most enduring images for him, which the singer insisted on using, even though the director of the Café Concert where he was performing thought it was "a revolting mess." Lautrec designed more posters for Bruant than for anyone else. This poster, which exists in several variants, shows the combined insolence of Bruant and Lautrec. The performer, dressed in his trademark black velvet suit, hat and boots doesn't even deign to face the public, turning his back on viewers. Through Lautrec's genius, the performer doesn't have to show his face, as his back is immediately recognizable. Adriani 57-II, Wittrock P10C, Delteil 349 III, DFP-II 931, Wine Spectator 47.
