Le Divan Japonais

Throughout the 1890s, the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec became the leading exponent of the new technique of colour lithography. The medium was well suited to his depictions of the bohemian entertainment and night life of late nineteenth-century Paris – the performers and patrons of the theatres, cabarets, café-concerts and brothels. 

This striking poster was commissioned by the owner of the Divan Japonais in Montmartre to celebrate the cabaret’s reopening after refurbishment in January 1893. Toulouse-Lautrec has included three well-known figures in the image. On the stage, the singer Yvette Guilbert is performing and, while her face is not visible, she can be identified by her long black gloves, which were her signature accessory. The focal point of the image, however, are the famous audience members: Jane Avril, one of the outstanding cancan dancers
of the day, is seated alongside the French writer and critic Edouard Dujardin. The bold design and cropping draw the viewer into the image, as if we are among the audience, overlooking the orchestra and stage.

Julie Robinson, Senior Curator Prints, Drawings and Photographs