Colorful Posters Series 8

This Met x Wendover Art Group design is a reproduction of an original work of art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.

Our inspiration: Confetti
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)
Lithograph printed in three colors on vellum,
22 7/16 x 17 5/16 in., 1894
Gift of Chester Dale, 1963   63.663.2

Known for his louche lifestyle, Lautrec created art that was inseparable from his legendary life. His career lasted just over a decade and coincided with two major developments in late 19th-century Paris: the birth of modern printmaking and the explosion of nightlife culture. Lautrec’s posters promoted Montmartre entertainers as celebrities, and elevated the popular medium of the advertising lithograph to the realm of high art. His paintings of performers and prostitutes are personal and humanistic, revealing the sadness and humor hidden beneath rice powder and gaslights. Though he died tragically young at the age of 36 due to health complications,
his influence was long-lasting.