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'L'Artisan Moderne

Poster
1895 (designed and printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster purports to advertise the wares of the designer André Marty, who sold decorative objects for the interior at various locations throughout Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec's poster, however, bears very little relevance to the business it advertises, choosing instead to entertain viewers by presenting them with a titillating image.

In a parody of the stock vignette 'the doctor's visit', an artisan arrives at a client's house and is shown by the maid to her mistress's bedroom, seemingly to perform an 'examination', equipped with his toolbox rather than a doctor's medicine bag. The client, who is prostrate in bed dressed in a transparent negligée, passively awaits his attentions. The maid's expression of distress, the little dog's raised tail and the ruddiness of the artisan's complexion all serve to indicate the licentious nature of the visit.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Title'L'Artisan Moderne (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour Lithograph
Brief description
Poster for 'L'Artisan Moderne. Objets d'art, meubles, ensembles decoratifs' by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1895.
Physical description
Depicts a woman sitting up in bed with a little dog in her lap. Her maid is in attendance and appears to have just announced the arrival of an artisan who enters carrying a toolbox and hammer.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1219mm
  • Width: 863mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
HTL (Signed with monogram)
Credit line
Given by the Misses G L T and L J D Griffith
Summary
This poster purports to advertise the wares of the designer André Marty, who sold decorative objects for the interior at various locations throughout Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec's poster, however, bears very little relevance to the business it advertises, choosing instead to entertain viewers by presenting them with a titillating image.

In a parody of the stock vignette 'the doctor's visit', an artisan arrives at a client's house and is shown by the maid to her mistress's bedroom, seemingly to perform an 'examination', equipped with his toolbox rather than a doctor's medicine bag. The client, who is prostrate in bed dressed in a transparent negligée, passively awaits his attentions. The maid's expression of distress, the little dog's raised tail and the ruddiness of the artisan's complexion all serve to indicate the licentious nature of the visit.
Associated object
CIRC.205-1950 (Duplicate)
Bibliographic references
  • Coutts, Howard and Claire Jones Toulouse Lautrec and the art of the French Poster. Bowes Museum, 2004. 53 p., ill. ISBN 0954818202.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1942, London: HMSO, 1955.
  • Loys Delteil. Le Peintre-Graveur Illustré, Vols X, XI. Paris, 1920.
  • p. 192 Phillip Dennis Cate, Saskia Oooms, Michela Niccolai, Laurent Bihl, Ricard Bru i Turull, Toulouse-Lautrec i l'esperit de Montmartre. Barcelona : Obra Social la Caixa, 2018. 274 pages : illustrations (some colour), portraits ; 24 cm. ISBN: 9788499002118
Collection
Accession number
E.126-1942

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Record createdJuly 18, 2007
Record URL
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