Yvette Guilbert

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Yvette Guilbert

Artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901)

Publisher L'estampe originale, Paris, 1894

Printer lithographs: Edw. Ancourt, Paris; text: Frémont, Arcis-sur-Aube

Author Gustave Geffroy (French, 1856-1926)

Date1894

DimensionsBook: H: 16 1/8 in. (410 mm); W: 15 1/2 in. (394 mm); Depth: 1/4 in. (7 mm).
Page (untrimmed): H: 15 3/16 in. (385 mm); W: 15 3/16 in. (385 mm).

MediumOriginal prints: 17 lithographs in olive and black (incl. cover). Text: letterpress in olive with black. Paper: Arches cream laid paper, watermarked.

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss

Object number

1984.1135

Not on View

Label TextHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Yvette Guilbert. Text by Gustave Geffroy (1894) By 1894 the famous French cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert had become something of an obsession for artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was sketching her more than any other person. When she asked why, Toulouse-Lautrec replied, “Because you amuse me. You inspire me—with your extreme distinction in face, the vinegar of your smile, the grain of pepper in your little eye and the astonishing inventiveness of your costume.” While boating with the artist and the singer, the critic Gustave Geffroy suggested doing a book on Guilbert—combining his essay with Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithographs. The artist took up the project enthusiastically. The result was a great commercial and artistic success. Geffroy’s text, rather than being an exploration of Yvette Guilbert herself, takes her as a departure point for an exploration of her audience. The text is a socialist essay on the numbing life of the working class Parisian: “Why then, in all conscience, should this man not go to the café-concert? It is the only door that is open to him, the only house that receives him hospitably.” The book had a bold design, with an unusual square format, an olive green color for both lithographs and type, and the overlapping of image and text. It was immediately recognized as something new and important: “…it will without a doubt mark a step in the history of publishing.” (Le Figaro)Published ReferencesSymmes, Marilyn, "Illustrated books at The Toledo Museum of Art", The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Miami, winter 1988, p.55, repr.

cf. Castleman, Riva, A Century of Artists Books, New York, 1994, pp. 84--85, repr.

cf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 301, repr.

cf. Ray, Gordon N., The Art of the French Illustrated Book, 1700 to 1914, vol. II, New York, 1982, no. 380, reprs.

cf. Hogben, Carol, Rowan Watson, editors, From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated Books, London, 1985, no. 10, reprs.

cf. The Frank Crowninshield Collection of Modern French Illustrated Books, New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1943, no. 741

cf. Sims Reed, Circa 1900, London, 2001, cat. 169.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Bareiss Collection of Illustrated Books from Toulouse-Lautrec to Kiefer, 1985, no. 80, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, Splendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14-May 11, 2003

Toledo Museum of Art, Strong Sensations: Impressionism and Symbolist Works on Paper, 1860-1900, April 23-June 20 2010 (no cat.).