Jane Avril au Jardin de Paris
- Object:
Poster
- Place of origin:
Paris (made)
- Date:
1893 (Designed and made)
- Artist/Maker:
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de, born 1864 - died 1901 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Colour lithograph
- Museum number:
E.705-2000
- Gallery location:
In Storage
The Jardin de Paris was a café-concert hall owned by the proprietor of the Moulin Rouge. One of the hall's performers, Jane Avril, is seen here dancing on stage. Avril was a favourite subject of Toulouse-Lautrec's and appears in many of his works from this period, including another poster, Divan Japonais, which, unusually, shows her as a spectator rather than a performer.
This poster demonstrates the visual juxtaposition of the beautiful and the grotesque that was so beloved of Toulouse-Lautrec: the sensuous figure of Avril contrasts sharply with that of the caricatured features of the musician playing the double-bass, his hairy knuckles are rendered all the more conspicuous by their proximity to her frothy gown.
