William Tom Warrener, an English painter and friend of Lautrec’s, appears as a top-hatted gentleman chatting up two female companions at the Moulin Rouge, the dance hall that epitomized the colorful and tawdry nightlife of fin-de-siècle Paris. The women’s suggestive attitudes—and Warrener’s ear, reddened in embarrassment—indicate the risqué nature of their conversation. This painting served as a preparatory study for a color lithograph of 1892.
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Title:The Englishman (William Tom Warrener, 1861–1934) at the Moulin Rouge
Artist:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
Date:1892
Medium:Oil on cardboard
Dimensions:33 3/4 x 26 in. (85.7 x 66 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967
Object Number:67.187.108
Inscription: Signed (lower left): HTLautrec [HTL in monogram]
the sitter, Paris, later Lincoln, England (1892–d. 1934; given to him by the artist); his sister, Maud Warrener, Lincoln (1934–35; sold in May for £1,000 to Knoedler and Carstairs); [Knoedler, London, and Carroll Carstairs, New York, 1935; Knoedler stock no. A1553; Knoedler sold half share in December for $6,000 to Carstairs]; [Carroll Carstairs, New York, 1935–36; sold to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1936; sold before February 1 to de Groot]; Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York (1936–d. 1967; on loan to The Met, 1936)
London. M. Knoedler & Co. "Toulouse-Lautrec," Febraury 1–21, 1934, no. 6 (as "L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge," lent by W. T. Warrener).
New York. Carroll Carstairs. "French Impressionists and After," December 17, 1935–January 1936, no. 11.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, Drawings, Posters, and Lithographs," March 20–May 6, 1956, no. 20 (lent by Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York).
New York. Perls Galleries. "Masterpieces from the Collection of Adelaide Milton de Groot," April 14–May 3, 1958, no. 13 (as "L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge").
Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. "Masterpieces from the Adelaide Milton de Groot Collection," December 2, 1958–March 1, 1959, no. 41 (as "L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 12–September 2, 1963, no. 76 (lent by Adelaide Milton de Groot).
New York. Wildenstein. "Toulouse-Lautrec," February 7–March 14, 1964, no. 31 (lent by Adelaide Milton de Groot).
Lincoln. Usher Gallery. "William Tom Warrener, 1861–1934: L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge," July 13–September 8, 1974, no. 42.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Impressionist Epoch," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Images of the 1890s," November 7, 1985–January 26, 1986, no. 4.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Treasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century," March 25–June 4, 1989, no. 100.
London. Hayward Gallery. "Toulouse-Lautrec," October 10, 1991–January 19, 1992, no. 73 (as "Étude pour 'L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge'").
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Toulouse-Lautrec," February 18–June 1, 1992, no. 72 (as "Étude pour Flirt [L'Anglais au Moulin-Rouge]").
Humlebaek, Denmark. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec and Paris," November 11, 1994–February 9, 1995, no. 21 (as "Étude pour L'Anglais (William Tom Warrener 1861–1934) au Moulin Rouge").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 2–September 29, 1996, unnumbered cat. (fig. 32).
Madrid. Fundación Juan March. "Toulouse-Lautrec de Albi y de otras colecciones," October 15, 1996–February 23, 1997, no. 16.
Denver Art Museum. "Toulouse-Lautrec from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 15–October 15, 1999, no catalogue.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Vincent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard," February 17–May 13, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Frankfurt. Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie. "Vincent van Gogh und die Maler des Petit Boulevard," June 8–September 2, 2001, unnumbered cat.
London. National Gallery. "Fabric of Vision: Dress and Drapery in Painting," June 19–September 8, 2002, no. 50.
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre," March 20–June 12, 2005, unnumbered cat. (fig. 141, as "The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge").
Art Institute of Chicago. "Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre," July 16–October 10, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Splendeurs et misères: Images de la prostitution, 1850–1910," September 22, 2015–January 17, 2016, unnumbered cat. (colorpl. 50, as "Étude pour Flirt [L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge]").
Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Easy Virtue. Prostitution in French Art, 1850–1910," February 19–June 19, 2016, no. 25 (as "Study for 'Flirt' [The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge]").
LOAN OF THIS WORK IS RESTRICTED.
Maurice Joyant. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Vol. 1, Peintre. Paris, 1926, p. 275.
Pierre Mac Orlan. Lautrec, peintre de la lumière froide. Paris, 1934, pp. 119–20, mentions that Warrener was one of the many friends portrayed by Lautrec.
H. Granville Fell. "Early Spring Exhibitions—Toulouse-Lautrec in Bond Street." Connoisseur 93 (March 1934), p. 203, mentions it as one of Lautrec's important paintings being exhibited at Knoedler.
"Paintings and Drawings by Toulouse Lautrec at Messrs. Knoedlers' Galleries." Apollo 19 (March 1934), p. 165, ill., states that it has never before been exhibited.
French Impressionists and After. Exh. cat., New York Carroll Carstairs. New York, 1935, unpaginated, no. 11, calls the medium essence, dates it 1892, and places it formerly in the Warrener collection; identifies the two women as Rayon d'Or and La Sauterelle of the Moulin Rouge; remarks that there is a sketch of Warrener's head in the Albi Museum (Dortu no. P.426).
Mary Morsell. "Carstairs Plans Delightful Show of French Works: Oils, Pastels and Drawings to be Shown . . ." Art News 34 (December 14, 1935), pp. 3, 6, ill. on cover, mistakenly calls it a pastel; describes the composition, crediting the influence of Japanese prints.
"Works by Lautrec and Gauguin Recently Sold." Art News 34 (February 1, 1936), p. 7, states that the painting was "recently bought by Durand-Ruel and immediately sold by them" to a "well known 'artist and collector'".
Harry B. Wehle. "A Loan of Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 31 (October 1936), p. 209.
Jacques Lassaigne. Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1939, p. 166, no. 86, ill. p. 86.
S. Rocheblave. French Painting, XIXth Century. New York, 1941, ill. p. 111.
Harry B. Wehle. "The de Groot Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 6 (June 1948), pp. 264, 271, ill.
Douglas Cooper. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1956, p. 14, ill.
Claude Roger-Marx. Le vrai visage de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris, 1957, p. 99.
Fritz Novotny. Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1969, p. 186, under no. 36, calls it an oil sketch for the color lithograph.
André Fermigier. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1969, p. 89.
M. G. Dortu. Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre. New York, 1971, vol. 1, p. 134; vol. 2, pp. 256–57, no. P.425, ill., dates it 1892 and calls it a study for the lithograph.
Philippe Huisman and M. G. Dortu. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Milan, 1971, colorpl. 3.
G. M. Sugana inThe Complete Paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1973, p. 106, no. 301a, ill.
Richard Wood and Elizabeth Ogborn inWilliam Tom Warrener, 1861–1934: "L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge". Exh. cat., Usher Gallery. [Lincoln], 1974, unpaginated, no. 42, ill. on front cover (cropped).
Götz Adriani. Toulouse-Lautrec: Das gesamte graphische Werk. Cologne, 1976, p. 39, 254, under no. 4, ill. p. 40, dates it 1892 and mistakenly calls the sitter Warner.
Richard Thomson. Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1977, p. 61, under no. 34.
Richard Shone. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1977, unpaginated, under no. 20.
Charles F. Stuckey inToulouse-Lautrec: Paintings. Ed. Charles F. Stuckey. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1979, p. 26, fig. 15.
Douglas Cooper. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1982, p. 14, ill.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 11, 236–37, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Wolfgang Wittrock. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Images of the 1890s. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1985, pp. 94, 98, no. 4, colorpl. 4, contrasts it to different states of the lithograph.
Gary Tinterow et al. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 8, Modern Europe. New York, 1987, p. 73, colorpl. 50.
Pierre Gassier. T-Lautrec. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 1987, p. 120, ill.
Colta Ives. "French Prints in the Era of Impressionism and Symbolism." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 46 (Summer 1988), p. 50, ill. (color).
Götz Adriani Royal Academy of Arts. Toulouse-Lautrec, The Complete Graphic Works: A Catalogue Raisonné. London, 1988, p. 30, under no. 7.
Susan Alyson Stein inTreasures from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: French Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. Exh. cat., Yokohama Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 1989, p. 155, no. 100, ill. (color).
Gale B. Murray, ed. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Retrospective. New York, 1992, colorpl. 52.
Danièle Devynck. Toulouse-Lautrec. [Paris], [1992], pp. 25–26, ill. (color).
Anna Szinyei Merse and Ralf Beil inDie Nabis: Propheten der Moderne. Ed. Claire Frèches-Thory and Ursula Perucchi-Petri. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Munich, 1993, p. 216, fig. 82.1 [French ed., "Nabis 1888–1900"], compare it to József Rippl-Rónai's "Moulin-Rouge" (1897, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest).
Gilles Néret. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Ed. Ingo F. Walther. New York, 1995, pp. 91, 196, ill. p. 78 (color) [German ed., 1994].
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 503, ill.
Colta Ives. Toulouse-Lautrec in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 23, 32, 61, fig. 32 (color), dates it 1892.
Hilton Kramer. "Super-realist Toulouse-Lautrec." Art & Antiques 19 (September 1996), p. 118, ill.
Richard Thomson inVincent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard. Exh. cat., Saint Louis Art Museum. St. Louis, 2001, pp. 95, 244, ill. p. 97 (color), cites it in discussing the growth of Paris as a tourist destination and this setting of the Moulin Rouge.
Anne Hollander. Fabric of Vision: Dress and Drapery in Painting. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2002, pp. 147–48, 202, no. 50, fig. 109 (color).
Richard Thomson inToulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2005, pp. 112–13, 256, fig. 141 (color), notes that in comparison to Lautrec's first portrait study of Warrener, his expression becomes "more hard-bitten and lecherous" in this picture.
Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 185, 308, no. 172, ill. (color and black and white).
Marnie P. Stark in Annette Dixon. The Dancer: Degas, Forain, Toulouse-Lautrec. Exh. cat., Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oreg., 2008, p. 180.
Per Hedström inToulouse-Lautrec. Exh. cat., Nationalmuseum. Stockholm, 2008, p. 22.
Simeran Maxwell inToulouse-Lautrec: Paris & the Moulin Rouge. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Australia. Canberra, 2012, p. 176.
Splendeurs & misères: Images de la prostitution, 1850–1910. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2015, p. 286, colorpl. 50, as "Etude pour Flirt (L'Anglais au Moulin Rouge)".
Richard Thomson inSplendeurs & misères: Images de la prostitution, 1850–1910. Exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2015, p. 98, states that this recycled use of the artist's friend as his model flanked by two "filles prédatrices" (predatory prostitutes) transforms Warrener's grin into "un rictus lascif" (a rictus of lust).
Richard Thomson inEasy Virtue: Prostitution in French Art, 1850–1910. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2016, pp. 44–45, ill. (color).
Easy Virtue: Prostitution in French Art, 1850–1910. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2016, p. 179, no. 25, as "Study for 'Flirt' (The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge)".
Martin Gammon. Deaccessioning and Its Discontents: A Critical History. Cambridge, Mass., 2018, p. 215.
This painting (Dortu 1971, P.425) is a preparatory study for a color lithograph (Delteil 12) commissioned by Boussod & Valadon Gallery in 1892 of this scene at the Moulin Rouge. Another oil study for the lithograph is a head of Warrener (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi). Tom Warrener was an Englishman, a fellow painter, drinker, and friend of Lautrec. The women have been identified as Rayon d'Or and La Sauterelle.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
1898
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