The Sea Swallows, from Mélodies de Désiré Dihau - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Gift of the Print and Drawing Club

"The Sea Swallows, from Mélodies de Désiré Dihau" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1895) Lithograph on cream wove paper.

Commentary

"The Sea Swallows, from Mélodies de Désiré Dihau" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1895) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast d o most 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: 20.7 × 20.4 cm (8 3/16 × 8 1/16 in.); Sheet: 35.1 × 27.1 cm (13 7/8 × 10 11/16 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/68150

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