Color lithograph, 1895. 1280x920 mm; 50 1/2x36 1/4 inches, wide margins. Third state (of 3), with letters. Printed by Ancourt, Paris. A very good impression.
Misia Natanson, the wife of one of the founders of La Revue Blanche, a French art and literary magazine published between 1889 and 1903, was a muse for the artists and writers within this Belle Époque circle. Renowned as a charming and beautiful woman, she was a source of inspiration for Pierre Bonnard, Jacques Villon and Félix Vallotton, among other artists and writers. Both Bonnard and Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) were commissioned to design a poster promoting the magazine and they selected Misia, who represented the spirit of La Revue Blanche, as their subject. Lautrec's image is uncharacteristically soft and endearing when compared with much of his other work. It has been suggested that he had fallen in love with Misia, which might explain this scarce, tender portrait. The somewhat photographic perspective in which Lautrec depicted her, without showing her legs and uncentered, lends the image a modern appearance. Delteil 355; Adhémar 115; Adriani 130.
