Henri de TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (1864 - 1901), Affiche pour le Jardin de Paris "Jane Avril" (1893).

Color lithograph, Arches velin paper 45 x 32 cm in light passe - partout 56 x 43 cm. Signed on the plate twice: "Lautrec" p.d. and bound monogram "TL" l.d. Jane Avril's first large edition of 1893, measuring 126 x 92 cm, is in the Museum of Modern Art. in New York. The featured lithograph is from an 1898 edition from "Les Maitres de l'Affiche". "Les Maitres de l'Affiche" was published by Imprimerie Chaix under the direction of Jules Cheret from 1896 to 1900, with special editions featuring boards with original designs by famous artists. Among the most sought-after posters in the series are A. Mucha's "Job," which helped Alphonse Mucha establish himself as a creator of beautiful popular Art Nouveau paintings, and Toulouse-Lautrec's "Moulin Rouge." With more than a thousand poster designs, Jules Cheret was considered the father of poster art. Many of the posters from Les Maitres de l'Affiche were designed by Cheret himself. In 1866 he opened his own printing shop in Paris, and from 1881 he was active in the Chaix Imprimerie publishing house, where "Les Maitres de l'Affiche" was published. "Jane Avril" was created during the La Belle Epoque period in France during the French Great Poster Movement, which began in the late 19th century. At that time, the streets of all major cities around the world were full of large-format, colorful, vivid poster images. Advertising posters began to be treated as works of art and published as high-quality lithographs. Imprimerie Chaix played a major role in popularizing poster designs, as well as in documenting the art movement as a whole. Jane Avril, alias Jeanne Louise Beaudon, born June 9, 1868 in Paris on June 20 in the Belleville district and died January 17, 1943 in Paris on January 15, was one of the most famous dancers of the Moulin Rouge, where she was called "Jane la Folle" or "La Mélinite." She often visited the nightlife and restless places of Paris, where women who are half dancers, half prostitutes are the attraction of the capital, especially at the Bullier ball, where she discovers a passion for dancing. And it is there, in front of the young students who attend the establishment's soirees, that she takes her first risky games with her innate gift and frenzy for rhythm. Her whole slender body is electrified when she hears the joyful accents of Orpheus in the Underworld. She herself recounted: "One day I was dancing like a child. We formed a circle around me. I looked like a child, my hair was blowing up. And I remember the "Empire" dress in white stripes with purple that blossomed around me. In love with dance, she found her way there. Her nervous fragility earned her the nicknames Crazy Jane or Mélinite, meaning explosive. Intelligent and sensitive, Jane Avril frequented intellectual and artistic circles. Muse of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whose talent she admires, partner of Mistinguett, friend of Joris-Karl Huysmans, Maurice Barrès, Auguste Renoir, Alphonse Allais, who wants to marry her, she is adored by men.