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Confetti

Poster
1894 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster advertising confetti puts Toulouse-Lautrec's use of the 'spray' or 'splatter' technique to great effect. In a process pioneered by the artist himself, an ink-soaked brush would be held over the lithographic stone and rubbed against a grid, to produce a fine spray of droplets. The resulting effect could be one of great delicacy, used to add nuanced tones and subtle shading or, when applied with gusto, could create bolder and more dramatic results. For this technique Toulouse-Lautrec had taken inspiration from a decorative effect employed in Japanese lacquer: urushi or 'sprinkled' lacquer.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleConfetti (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
Poster, 'Confetti', Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French; ca. 1894.
Physical description
A woman with long, blonde hair and elbow-length, black gloves clutches her hat as three disembodied hands emerge from the top left corner and shower her with confetti.
Dimensions
  • 2016th height: 567mm
  • Width: 423mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'HTL' (Artist's monogram. Lower right.)
  • 'Confetti' (Centre.)
  • 'Manufactured by J&E Bella, 113 Charing Cross Rd. London, WC' (Centre left.)
  • 'imp, Bella & de Malherbe London & Paris' (Lower right)
Credit line
Given by Mrs J.T. Clarke
Subjects depicted
Summary
This poster advertising confetti puts Toulouse-Lautrec's use of the 'spray' or 'splatter' technique to great effect. In a process pioneered by the artist himself, an ink-soaked brush would be held over the lithographic stone and rubbed against a grid, to produce a fine spray of droplets. The resulting effect could be one of great delicacy, used to add nuanced tones and subtle shading or, when applied with gusto, could create bolder and more dramatic results. For this technique Toulouse-Lautrec had taken inspiration from a decorative effect employed in Japanese lacquer: urushi or 'sprinkled' lacquer.
Associated object
CIRC.681-1971 (Duplicate)
Bibliographic reference
Coutts, Howard and Claire Jones Toulouse Lautrec and the art of the French Poster. Bowes Museum, 2004. 53 p., ill. ISBN 0954818202.
Collection
Accession number
E.231-1921

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Record createdJuly 3, 2007
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