Creator Biography

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French, 1864–1901 (artist).

Preview

Creation Date

1899 (original)

Geography

France

Culture

French

Medium

Print (reproduction), Drawing (original)

Dimensions

17 11/16 × 13 1/8 × 1 9/16 in. (44.9 × 33.3 × 4 cm)

Credit Line

Purchase by the Department of Art History, 2025

Accession Number

2025.117

Provenance

Purchase by the Department of Art History, 2025

References

Toulouse-Lautrec's The Circus: Thirty-Nine Crayon Drawings in Color. Dover Publications, 2006.

Description

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec became know for depicting people on the fringes of society, including dancers, prostitutes, and, in this series, circus performers. Lautrec particularly took inspiration from the circus in his artwork of the late 1880s and 1890s. This series of thirty-nine crayon drawings he created while being treated for alcoholism at a sanitarium just outside Paris in 1899. Drawing from memory, twenty-three of the drawings feature horses, showcasing another of Lautrec's life-long fascinations. On leaving the sanitarium, Lautrec is said to have claimed, "I've bought my release with my drawings."

Individual Digital Kenyon entries for the prints within this collection can be found at the following links:

(2025.117.1–2025.117.39)

Jockey

Clown dresseur

La dresseuse d'animaux

Cheval et Singe dressés

Éléphant en liberté

Travail de l'Ours sur le panneau