Provenance
Estate of the artist [Lugt 1338]; Les Comtes de Toulouse-Lautrec (relative of the artist) [Dortu 1971]. Comte d'Anselmes (relative of the artist) [Dortu 1971]. Robert Alexander Waller [Dortu 1971]. Mrs. Charles Goodspeed (née Elizabeth Fuller, later Mrs. Gilbert Chapman; 1893–1980), Chicago, by 1938 [Chicago 1938]; given to the Art Institute, 1947.
Accession Number
61716
Medium
Watercolor, with touches of gouache, and graphite, on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
13.7 × 22.7 cm (5 7/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Credit Line
Given in memory of Charles Barnett Goodspeed by Mrs. Charles B. Goodspeed
Background & Context
Background Story
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrecs The Promenade des Anglais in Nice from 1879-81 is a remarkably early watercolor that depicts the famous seaside promenade of Nice, created when the artist was only fifteen or seventeen years old and already displaying the observational acuity that would make him the preeminent visual chronicler of Parisian nightlife. The Promenade des Anglais, the grand boulevard that stretches along the Mediterranean waterfront, had been developed in the 19th century as a pleasure ground for the British aristocrats and upper-class travelers who wintered on the French Riviera, and Lautrecs watercolor captures the atmosphere of genteel leisure that characterized the resort before the arrival of mass tourism. The medium of watercolor with touches of gouache and graphite allows the young artist to suggest the brilliance of Mediterranean light through translucent washes of color while using gouache for the crisp details of the promenaders costumes and the architectural elements of the promenade. The graphite underdrawing, visible in areas where the watercolor does not cover it, reveals the working process of an artist who began every composition with a structural foundation before adding the chromatic and atmospheric layers that give the finished work its visual completeness. The early date of this work places it before Lautrecs formal training in the studios of Bonnat and Cormon, and its freshness and directness anticipate the economical drawing style and keen eye for social behavior that would define his mature work.
Cultural Impact
Lautrecs early watercolors are important documents of his artistic development, revealing that his observational gifts and compositional instincts were present from adolescence. The Promenade des Anglais anticipates the social observation and atmospheric subtlety that would make his later depictions of Parisian entertainment venues the defining images of fin-de-siecle nightlife.
Why It Matters
An early watercolor by the teenage Lautrec depicting Nice's famous seaside promenade, revealing the precocious observational acuity and economical drawing style that would later make him the visual chronicler of Parisian nightlife.
