Coquelin Aine (From Portraits d'Acteurs & d'Actrices)

c. 1906

9 7/8 x 11 3/4 in /
22.9 x 27.9 cm

Edition of approximately 400 impressions
Printed in black on beige wove paper
Published in the series Treize Lithographies, as well as in the portfolio Portraits d'Acteurs & d'Actrices

Edmond Rostand wrote his verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac for the actor Benoit-Constant Coquelin (1841-1909), and its premiere was held on 28 December 1897, at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin to great success. A few months later, Lautrec made this print of Coquelin in the title role.

Before he died, Lautrec would announce, "When I am dead, I'll have a nose like Cyrano!" He no doubt had thought about the similarities between himself and Rostand's tragic hero. Each man's ugly exterior belied his interior beauty, a beauty that could not be perceived by those interested in superficial appearances but which each man's genius expressed in words or art. Both were famous for their repartee and scathing wit, for unmasking the hypocrisy and sentimentality of an unsympathetic world, but also for making fun of themselves. Both insisted on total liberty and lived according to their whims, wearing many masks to protect their vulnerability from the scorn of others, making their very lives into a work of art. Both would die before they were 37 years old.

References: Wittrock 254, Adriani 263, Frey 491