Sescau, Feneon, and Mr. X

1896

7 7/8 x 11 4/8 in /
17.8 x 27.9 cm

Original drawing

Here, we see Paul Sescau, a close friend of Lautrec's. Also depicted is Felix Fénéon, notorious anarchist and art critic. A friend of Lautrec's, Fénéon loved his art, reviewing it in enthusiastic street slang for the journal La Père peinard (The Sly Old Slacker): "Lautrec's a guy with a hell of a nerve and lots of guts...Nobody can match him at snagging the snoots of capitalist pigs chowing down with loose chicks...[his posters are] daring, determined and tough, and those idiots who want everything in spun sugar really get left with jam on their faces." One only wonders who the mysterious third fellow is, deemed worthy enough to share the page with some of Lautrec's closest allies.

References: Dortu D. 4.223, Frey 322