Cover Design for "Les Vieilles Histoires"

1893

Not on view

Lautrec designed this cover for a collection of songs composed by Désiré Dihau, a bassoonist and distant cousin of the artist. Dihau appears in the grey suit and top hat leading the poet and lyricist Jean Goudezki, in the guise of a bear, toward the Institut de France in Paris. Their destination, the seat of the French Academy, suggests a tongue-in-cheek attempt to elevate the status of these popular songs. Lautrec produced a second edition of the lithograph printed in five colors similar to those applied with watercolor to this first edition proof.

Artwork Details

Title: Cover Design for "Les Vieilles Histoires"
Series/Portfolio: Les Vieilles Histoires
Artist: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
Date: 1893
Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
Dimensions: Sheet: 18 1/16 in. × 24 in. (45.8 × 61 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020
Object Number: 2021.28.3
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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