Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in “Chilpéric,” 1895–96.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901).
Oil on canvas. 145 x 149 cm (57 1/8 x 59 in.).
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1990.127.1.
© National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
About the Artist
“Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was and remains a remarkable paradox. Scion of an ancient aristocratic family, he spent his adult life among the common people of Paris and Montmartre, even taking rooms in a brothel, and he made the city’s seamy night life, cafés, cabarets, dance halls, and theater the principal subject of his art. “Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in “Chilpéric””chronicles the spirit, style, and spectacle of the nineties, and underscores Lautrec’s fascination with the ambiguous boundaries between art and artifice and between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art.” This work, along with his related paintings, drawings, and lithographs, embodies the artist’s ultimately egalitarian vision of life and art.
About the Painting
Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in “Chilpéric,” one of Lautrec’s largest paintings, is the most monumental and important of his theatrical subjects. In it he conveys the artificial glamour of the stage and the sultry energy of the performers, especially the singer-dancer Marcelle Lender. This painting is the fullest expression of his interest in the theater, which, along with the informal theatrics of the Montmartre dance halls, occupied Lautrec’s life and art during the 1890s.
Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in “Chilpéric,” one of Lautrec’s largest paintings, is the most monumental and important of his theatrical subjects. In it he conveys the artificial glamour of the stage and the sultry energy of the performers, especially the singer-dancer Marcelle Lender. This painting is the fullest expression of his interest in the theater, which, along with the informal theatrics of the Montmartre dance halls, occupied Lautrec’s life and art during the 1890s.
Watching intently from the audience, he sketched the faces and movements of the performers in notebooks he habitually carried. Those thumbnail sketches became the basis for his lithographs of the stage and performers later that year and for two paintings of 1896, one focusing on Marcelle Lender and the other depicting a grandiose vision of her performance.”
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An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.
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Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***
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Alice
June 4, 2010 at 11:46 amHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec certainly led an interesting life. I like the colors in this painting–neither bright nor pastel, but still bold. Marcelle's skirt has so much movement.
Thanks for brining such great artists and works of art to people like me who were never exposed to it earlier in life.
Kelley Pounds
June 4, 2010 at 6:56 pmAnother painting with great colors! He certainly chose a great color and texture to bring the focus to the underskirt. You can almost hear the music.