As early as 1901 the woman in this painting was identified as a streetwalker. Her name, however, has been lost to history; only the nickname La Casque d'Or (Golden Helmet), which refers to her wig, has survived. She sits in the garden of Monsieur Forest, Lautrec's neighbor in Montmartre.
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Title:The Streetwalker
Artist:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
Date:ca. 1890–91
Medium:Oil on cardboard
Dimensions:25 1/2 x 21 in. (64.8 x 53.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
Accession Number:2003.20.13
Inscription: Signed (lower right): [HT]Lautrec
François Depeaux, Rouen (until 1901; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 25, 1901, no. 61, for Fr 2,100 to Meier-Graefe); Julius Meier-Graefe, Berlin (from 1901); Seré de Rivières, Paris (in 1902); [Heim, Munich, until 1913; sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, April 30, 1913, no. 2, for Fr 9,800 to Lévêque]; Jean-Jacques Lévêque, Paris (from 1913); sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 10, 1920, no. 119, for Fr 17,500 to Wildenstein and Rosenberg; [Wildenstein, New York and Paul Rosenberg, Paris, from 1920; Rosenberg sold share to Wildenstein]; [Wildenstein, New York; sold to Elias]; Dr. Julius Elias, Berlin (until d. 1927); his widow, Mrs. Julius (Julie) Elias, Berlin, later Switzerland, finally Norway (1927–d. 1943; her estate, 1943–49, safeguarded by her lawyer, Eilif Moe, Lillehammer, Norway); her niece, Mrs. C. Levy, London (1949; sold to Partridge); [Frank Partridge & Sons, London, 1949; sold on June 10 to Wildenstein]; [Wildenstein, 1949–57; sold on February 9, 1957 to Annenberg]; Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (1957–his d. 2002)
Paris. Durand-Ruel. "Exposition H. de Toulouse-Lautrec," May 14–31, 1902, no. 37 (as "Une pierreuse," lent by M. Seré de Rivières).
Berlin. Paul Cassirer. "Siebenten Kunstaustellung der Berliner Secession," 1903, no. 120 (as "Pierreuse," possibly this picture).
Paris. Galerie Manzi, Joyant. "Exposition rétrospective de l'œuvre de H. de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)," June 15–July 11, 1914, no. 101 (as "Pierreuse").
Oslo. Kunstnernes Hus. "Fransk Utstilling: Malerier, Tegninger, Grafikk," November 9–December 1, 1946, no. 33 (as "Kvinne i haven [Casque d'Or]").
Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Two Sides of the Medal: French Painting from Gérome to Gauguin," September 28–October 31, 1954, no. 127 (as "Casque d'or," lent by Wildenstein and Company, Inc.).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec," October 29–December 11, 1955, no. 27 (as "Casque d'Or," lent anonymously).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Toulouse-Lautrec," January 2–February 15, 1956, no. 27.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Summer Loan Collections," July 4–September 2, 1963, no catalogue.
London. Tate Gallery. "The Annenberg Collection," September 2–October 8, 1969, no. 29 (as "Casque d'or" or "La Pierreuse").
Art Institute of Chicago. "Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings," October 4–December 2, 1979, no. 45 (as "La pierreuse ou Casque d'or").
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 21–September 17, 1989, unnumbered cat. (as "The Streetwalker [Casque d'or]").
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 6–August 5, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," August 16–November 11, 1990, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," June 4–October 13, 1991, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Toulouse-Lautrec in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 2–September 29, 1996, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence," March 12–July 29, 2018, unnumbered cat.
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
Gustave Coquiot. Lautrec, ou quinze ans de mœurs parisiennes, 1885–1900. Paris, 1921, pp. 129, 214, mentions it among a number of pictures that Lautrec painted outdoors in a local garden near his studio.
Maurice Joyant. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Vol. 1, Peintre. Paris, 1926, pp. 127, 273, ill. opp. p. 38, dates it 1891.
Maurice Joyant. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Vol. 2, Dessins - estampes - affiches. Paris, 1927, pp. 15–16, mentions the series of paintings of red-haired women posing in the garden of M. Forest.
Gotthard Jedlicka. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Berlin, 1929, ill. p. 174.
Emile Schaub-Koch. Psychanalyse d'un peintre moderne: Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. Paris, 1935, p. 186.
Gerstle Mack. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1938, p. 357.
Achille Astre. H. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris, [1938], p. 78.
Jacques Lassaigne. Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1939, p. 17, ill. p. 83.
R. H. Wilenski. Modern French Painters. New York, [1940], p. 127.
Pierre Mac Orlan. Lautrec, peintre de la lumière froide. Paris, 1941, pp. 81–82, ill. p. 53.
Jacques Lassaigne. Lautrec. Geneva, 1953, p. 36.
"'The Gay Paree' of the Nineteenth Century Recorded by Toulouse-Lautrec: Beauties of the Famous Moulin Rouge and of the Bois de Boulogne." Illustrated London News 223 (November 19, 1953), p. 41, ill.
François Gauzi. Lautrec et son temps. Paris, 1954, p. 84, pl. 6.
Hugo Perls. Warum ist Kamilla schön? Von Kunst, Künstlern und Kunsthandel. Munich, 1962, p. 92.
Ph[ilippe]. Huisman and M. G. Dortu. Lautrec par Lautrec. Lausanne, 1964, pp. 64–65, ill. (color detail), note that the sitter was the mistress of the famous anarchist and criminal, Liaboeuf; remark that her hairstyle was so popular in Montmartre that the Moulin Rouge dancers wore wigs fashioned in the same style.
M. Roy Fisher. The Annenberg Collection. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1969, unpaginated, no. 29, ill. (color), dates it about 1898; identifies the sitter as Amelie-Elie, "best known by her stage name, 'Casque d'or,'" adding that "she gained notoriety when, in 1898, she shifted her affections from one underworld figure to another, which resulted in gang warfare and street fighting".
M. G. Dortu. Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre. New York, 1971, vol. 2, pp. 236–37, no. P.407, ill.
G. M. Sugana inThe Complete Paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1973, p. 105, no. 286, ill.
Naomi E. Maurer inToulouse-Lautrec: Paintings. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1979, pp. 166–67, no. 45, ill., dates it 1890 based on its similarity to the portrait of Desiré Dihau (Musée d'Albi; D P.379) of the same year; compares it to Watteau's images of pierrots in gardens and comments that "it was typical of Lautrec's sympathy and insight that he has characterized the notorious prostitute by an expression of such appealing candor, and portrayed her in a tranquil natural setting so at odds with her flamboyant reputation".
Gale Barbara Murray. "Henri de Toulouse Lautrec: A Checklist of Revised Dates, 1878–1891." Gazette des beaux-arts, 6th ser., 95 (February 1980), p. 90, dates it about 1890–91, noting that it is stylistically closer to works of 1890 than 1891; erroneously states that it was shown in the spring of 1891.
Catherine Barnett. "A Very Private View: Inside Walter Annenberg's Personal Paradise." Art & Antiques 6 (March 1989), pp. 100, 104, ill. (color), refers to the sitter as an actress named Amélie-Elie.
Joseph J. Rishel inMasterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Colin B. Bailey, Joseph J. Rishel, and Mark Rosenthal. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1991, pp. 62–63, 171–72, ill. (color and black and white), dates it about 1890–91; notes that Lautrec only portrayed Casque d'or once and states that there is no evidence that her name was Amelie-Elie [see Fisher 1969 and Barnett 1989]; suggests that her hair may be a wig and notes that it is a hairstyle made popular by the dancer La Goulue (Louise Weber); comments that Lautrec painted his models in the Forest's garden as early as 1887, possibly to examine them in daylight.
Jérôme Coignard. "Le Salon de peinture de Mr. et Mrs. Annenberg." Beaux arts no. 92 (July–August 1991), pp. 68, 72, ill. (color).
Danièle Devynck. Toulouse-Lautrec. [Paris], [1992], p. 82, fig. 1 (color).
Julia Frey. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life. London, 1994, p. 276, colorpl. 18 (detail).
Albert Kostenevich. Hidden Treasures Revealed: Impressionist Masterpieces and Other Important French Paintings Preserved by the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Exh. cat.New York, 1995, p. 252, dates it 1890.
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, 28, 61, fig. 29 (color).
Ira Berkow. "Jewels in the Desert." Art News 97 (May 1998), p. 146, ill. p. 148 (color, installation photo).
Régine Deforges. "Les Femmes de Toulouse-Lautrec." Toulouse-Lautrec en scène. Lausanne, 2003, p. 14.
Franck Maubert. Toulouse-Lautrec in Paris. New York, 2004, p. 78, ill. (color), erroneously suggests that the sitter is the dancer La Goulue (Louise Weber).
Joseph J. Rishel inMasterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Susan Alyson Stein and Asher Ethan Miller. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, pp. 244–47, no. 45, ill. (color), notes that this picture was first called "La Pierreuse" (The Streetwalker) in the 1901 Hôtel Drouot catalogue of the François Depeaux sale.
R[ichard]. S[hone]. "Supplement: Acquisitions (2000–10) of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York." Burlington Magazine 152 (December 2010), p. 842, fig. XI (color).
Colta Ives. Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 124–25, 189, fig. 121 (color), remarks that the garden of Père Forest was "squalid and untended" and that the artist must have reveled in posing women of ill-repute like La Casque d'Or in such a spot; notes that Forest was a retired photographer.
Lautrec painted several images of women in Monsieur Forest's garden, such as The Met 1976.201.15 and, most similarly to this picture, Berthe la sourde (private collection; D P.360).
This work may not be lent, by terms of its acquisition by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
1894
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