Yvette Guilbert

Curatorial Overview

“This drawing depicts Yvette Guilbert, a popular Parisian cabaret performer who was the subject of numerous prints, posters, drawings, and paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Here, Lautrec began to work out the composition of a poster that Guilbert commissioned from him to publicize her upcoming season at Les Ambassadeurs, a popular night club. A more finished study is part of the collection of the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, France, but the poster itself was never realized after Guilbert rejected the design as unflattering.”