Henri Ibels, a close friend and collaborator of Lautrec, was one of the founding members of the Nabi brotherhood, a group of artists that included Bonnard and Vuillard. This oil study was adapted for the portrait of Ibels published in the journal La Plume in January 1893. Afterward, Lautrec presented it to the sitter.
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Title:Henri-Gabriel Ibels (1867–1936)
Artist:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, Albi 1864–1901 Saint-André-du-Bois)
Date:1892–93
Medium:Oil on cardboard
Dimensions:20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (52.1 x 39.4 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
Object Number:2003.20.14
Inscription: Signed and inscribed (lower right): Pour / H G IBELS / HTLautrec [HTL in monogram]
the sitter, Paris (from 1893; gift of the artist); Guillaume de Gontaut-Biron, marquis de Biron, Paris (until 1929; sold on October 29 for 10,000 Swiss francs to Vallotton); [Galerie Paul Valloton, Lausanne, stock no. 7478, from 1929; sold by spring 1931 to Kelekian; payment of 12,000 Swiss francs received on July 11, 1934]; Dikran G. Kelekian, New York (by 1931–at least 1942; his sale, Rains Gallery, New York, January 18, 1935, no. 76, bought in for $3,500 by Downtown Gallery, New York, for Kelekian); possibly Hon. Averell Harriman, New York; private collection, New York (presumably sold to Salz); [Sam Salz, New York, until 1958; sold on December 10 to Annenberg]; Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (1958–his d. 2002)
Paris. Musée des Arts Décoratifs. "Exposition H. de Toulouse-Lautrec," April 9–May 17, 1931, no. 102 (as "M. H.-G. Ibels," lent by M. Kelekian).
New York. Marie Harriman Gallery. "French Paintings from the Collection of Dikran Kelekian," January 5–29, 1938, no. 12 (as "Portrait of H.G. Ibels").
New York. Dikran G. Kelekian, Inc. "Artists of the Remote Past and Their Grandchildren: An Exhibition of Modern American and French Paintings in an Antique Background," January 5–31, 1942, no. 7 (as "Portrait of Ibels").
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. 30.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 21–September 17, 1989, unnumbered cat.
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. (fig. 31).
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
Charles Saunier. "Henri-Gabriel Ibels." La Plume 5 (January 15, 1893), ill. p. 30 (reproduction after the composition).
Gustave Coquiot. H. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris, 1913, p. 188.
Gustave Coquiot. Lautrec, ou quinze ans de mœurs parisiennes, 1885–1900. Paris, 1921, p. 121.
Maurice Joyant. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901. Vol. 1, Peintre. Paris, 1926, p. 227, ill. p. 205.
Art News 33 (December 15, 1934), ill. on cover, states that it is currently on exhibition at the galleries of Dikran G. Kelekian, New York.
Emile Schaub-Koch. Psychanalyse d'un peintre moderne: Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. Paris, 1935, p. 211, calls it similar to a Pierrot.
Gerstle Mack. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York, 1938, p. 270.
Achille Astre. H. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Paris, [1938], p. 81.
Pierre Mac Orlan. Lautrec, peintre de la lumière froide. Paris, 1941, p. 120, errroneously dates it 1896.
Henri Perruchot. T-Lautrec. [Paris], 1958, p. 208.
Jean Adhémar inToulouse-Lautrec. Paris, 1962, p. 189.
M. Roy Fisher. The Annenberg Collection. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1969, unpaginated, no. 30, ill. (color), states that it was painted as a study for the illustration in "La Plume" [see Ref. Saunier 1893].
M. G. Dortu. Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre. New York, 1971, vol. 2, pp. 278–79, no. P.463, ill., mentions the related brush and ink drawing of this composition (Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.).
G. M. Sugana inThe Complete Paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec. London, 1973, p. 107, no. 326, ill., confuses its location with the drawing (Smith College Museum of Art).
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. 65–66, 172–73, ill. (color and black and white), dates it 1893; notes that the drawing at Smith College is nearly identical and inadvertently lists a sale for the drawing in the provenance for this picture.
Jérôme Coignard. "Le Salon de peinture de Mr. et Mrs. Annenberg." Beaux arts no. 92 (July–August 1991), p. 72.
Danièle Devynck. Toulouse-Lautrec. [Paris], [1992], p. 151, no. 20, ill.
Julia Frey. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life. London, 1994, p. 317.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 505, ill.
Colta Ives. Toulouse-Lautrec in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 30, 61, fig. 31 (color), remarks that when Lautrec painted it, he and Ibels were preparing their joint portfolio of prints, "Le Café Concert".
Linda Muehlig inMaster Drawings from the Smith College Museum of Art. New York, 2000, pp. 194, 197 n. 1, fig. 1.
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. 248–51, no. 46, ill. (color), dates it 1892–93; based on the inscription on the Smith College drawing, asserts that the drawing served as the direct source for the lithographic reproduction in "La Plume".
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)
1898
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