The Old Gentlemen - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Prints and Drawings Purchase Fund

"The Old Gentlemen" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1894, published before 1910) Lithograph on cream wove paper.

Commentary

"The Old Gentlemen" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1894, published before 1910) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do mos t of the expressive work. Themes to notice include lithograph. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French, 1864-1901. The work is cataloged within a France cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as lithograph, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Lithograph on cream wove paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 22.2 × 16.8 cm (8 3/4 × 6 5/8 in.); Sheet: 50.3 × 34.2 cm (19 13/16 × 13 1/2 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include lithograph. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/84429

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data