Miss May Belfort au Bar Achille

1895

13 3/8 x 17 1/2 in /
33.0 x 43.2 cm

Single edition of 25 impressions
Printed in dark olive-green on wove paper
Distributed by Kleinmann
15 in public collections
RARE

Although Lautrec noted on one impression that May Belfort was shown in the Bar Achille-that is, the Cosmopolitan American Bar run by Achille Picton-Ralph, the Chinese-American Indian bar-keeper at the Irish and American Bar, is visible in the background beside Tom, the Rothschilds' coachman. From 1894 onwards, Lautrec headquartered himself at the Irish and American Bar, wherein ‘a sour atmosphere of pale ale, gin and smoke' hovered around the familiar crowd of jockeys, circus performers and bohemians. He became such a fixture in the establishment that soon he began insisting that people he did not like be kept out of the bar. He would later use this setting for his 1895 poster, The Chap Book.

References: Wittrock 119, Adriani 140, Frey 424