La Revue Blanche

1895

35 x 49 3/8 in /
88.9 x 124.5 cm

Key stone printed in olive-green, color stones in blue, red and black on one sheet of wove paper
Text printed in blue over red
Printed by Ancourt
Commissioned by La Revue Blanche as their annual poster for 1896
Published by G. Charpentier and E. Fasquelle, Paris

This official poster for La Revue Blanche is considered by many to be Lautrec's strongest individual work. In it, using a combination of economical line and implied movement, large flat areas of color and carefully observed detail, he shows Misia Natanson ice-skating at the Palais de Glace, an ice rink opened at the Rond-Point des Champs Elysees by Jules Roques in 1894. The entire poster is like a little joke, as if Lautrec were amusing himself by proving that he could show an ice-skater without ever showing her skates.

References: Wittrock P16, Adriani 130, Frey 408