HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (1864-1901) THE CHAP BOOK. 1896. 15 3/4x22 3/4 inches, 40x57 3/4 cm. Chaix, Paris. Condition B+: water staining along right edge and corners; minor creases in margins; slight foxing in image. Paper. Matted and framed. In 1895 and 1896 in addition to café-concerts and theatres, Lautrec also spent time at many different bars around the Madeleine. One of his favorites was the Irish American Bar at 33 Rue Royal. "Furnished in gleaming mahogany, [it] had a Chinese-Indian bar-keeper called Ralph, who with stoical calm served the British jockeys and trainers and the local coachmen who frequented the bar, as well as the clowns Footit and Chocolat" who were also regulars. Here, Lautrec depicts the beloved barman as well as Tom (with the moustache), the coachman for the Rothschilds. As with so many of his other great lithographs, Lautrec utilizes the diagonal of the bar to effectively divide the image, but in a dramatic change from his other work, the broad flat area of color is relegated to the background. The characters are only delineated in olive green outline, and yet the image is still "indelibly sharp and memorable" (Wine Spectator 51, np). This poster was commissioned by La Plume to advertise the Chap Book in Paris. Delteil 362 II, Wittrock P18B, Adriani 139 II, DFP-II 846, Wine Spectator 51, Devynck p. 76 (var), Art Nouveau p. 41.
