Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French, 1864 - 1901Partie de campagne (Country Outing), 1897
On view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions14 5/16 × 19 1/16 in. (36.4 × 48.4 cm)
Gift of the Whiting Foundation through Mr. Donald E. Johnson, 1979.202
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is known as one of the greatest artists of the Post-Impressionist period, along with Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin. Lautrec began his career as a painter and designer of book and newspaper illustrations. In 1891, he created his first color lithograph—a poster for the Moulin Rouge, which was an immediate success. Between 1891 and 1901, he produced 355 lithographs, including posters, covers for sheet music, book illustrations, and theater programs. Lautrec established a succession of studios in Montmarte, the area whose colorful dance halls, brothels, and inhabitants were portrayed in his art work. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1899 and was hospitalized for three months. Lautrec spent the last years of his life painting as he traveled down the Atlantic coast of France.
Partie de Campagne (A Day in the Country) is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of color lithography. Ambroise Vollard, the Parisian art dealer, commissioned Lautrec for a color lithograph for his second portfolio, Album des Peintres-Gravures, which numbered 100 copies.
