Jane Avril

1899

14 5/8 x 22 in /
35.6 x 55.9 cm

Printed in four colors from three stones
Key stone printed in black, one color stone in red, one in yellow and blue (the snake on dress printed from one stone)
Printed by H. Stern
Commissioned by Jane Avril

One of Lautrec's most compelling color posters, this was commissioned at the beginning of 1899 by Jane Avril, who remained faithful to the last, and printed by Stern in the course of that year. It is the last poster he made for her. For reasons no longer apparent, however, it was never displayed. In his last two posters from lithographs, the artist was able to use a process which enabled different colors to be applied at one printing, provided they were arranged in the order of rotation of the machine. With this technique, here only three printings were needed for the four colors used.

Although the poster is as pure of line as his earlier work, certain elements of it seem inconsistent with a cheerful publicity poster for a cabaret performer. She holds her hands to the sides of her head in alarm, and her facial expression is difficult to interpret. The eyes gaze distantly to one side while the mouth is open, in shock perhaps, or passion. The sense of madness or fear in this face is utterly unlike the expressions Lautrec typically portrayed in his models. Alternately, her expression and gesture resemble those in Edvward Much's 1893 The Scream, which Lautrec had almost certainly seen in reproduction or in the 1896 Paris exhibition. That same year, Munch designed the poster for Jane Avril's portrayal of Anitra in Ibsen's Peer Gynt.

References: Wittrock P29, Adriani 354, Frey 450