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Henri de TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (after)
Lithograph based on Lautrec's work "La Passagère du 57" (The Passenger of the 57).
Lithograph.
Dimensions: 76 x 54 cm
Signed with a stamp.
Numbered out of 275 in pencil.
Catalogue Raisonné Adhémar 188
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created the original lithograph in 1896, probably initially conceived in 1895-1896. The artist employed a refined technique: color lithography (olive green, beige, blue, red), enhanced with brushstrokes, lithographic pencil, and spit, on wove paper.
This work served as a promotional poster for the Salon des Cent, during the International Poster Exhibition of 1896.
The lithograph depicts an elegant passenger, seated sideways in a striped deck chair, contemplating the sea and the ships. No name is attributed to her; she is an anonymous model who inspired the artist during a summer cruise, possibly photographed by Maurice Guibert, a friend and photographer of Lautrec. Her cabin was numbered 54, alluded to in the title, hence "passenger of 54."
According to a plausible anecdote reported by TeacherCurator, Lautrec accompanied the ship to Lisbon or Dakar, eager to extend his stay at sea. This adventure illustrates his quest for private and fleeting moments, transformed into artistic images.
The visual effect is elegant and minimal: the palette combines the warm yellows of the bridge and the hair with deep blues, emphasizing the visual harmony and accentuating the muted atmosphere imbued with a gentle melancholy. The use of spit adds a light texture, evoking the lapping of water.
The panel is not merely decorative: it embodies the fleetingness of a moment of bourgeois luxury and the inner isolation of a woman strolling. This contrast between ostentatious opulence and psychological restraint is typical of Lautrec.
