The Amateur Photographer
1894, published January 1895
Medium
Lithographs recto and verso with lettering by the artist and letterpress added, on tan wove paper
Dimensions
35.5 × 49.9 cm (14 × 19 11/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
55819
Art Historical Context
Created in 1894 and published the following January, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph *The Amateur Photographer* reflects the artist’s fascination with modern Parisian life during the Belle Époque. A leading Post-Impressionist, Toulouse-Lautrec captured cabarets, performers, and everyday scenes with bold, expressive lines influenced by Japanese prints. This work, printed on both sides of tan wove paper with the artist’s own lettering plus added letterpress, was likely created as an illustration for a periodical, blending fine art with the era’s booming print culture. Lithography suited ...
About the Artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1864–1901
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (1864-1901) was a French Post-Impressionist painter, printmaker, and illustrator whose innovative poster designs revolutionized graphic art and advertising in late 19th-century Paris. Born into an aristocratic family at Albi in southern France, Toulouse-Lautrec's privileged lineage traced back to the Counts of Toulouse and extended uninterrupted to th...