Ambassadeurs: Aristide Bruant
by TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, Henri de, Gouache on cardboard, 141 x 95 cm
This is a study for the famous poster. Aristide Bruant (1851-1925) was a singer of realistic chansons, occasionally coloured by anarchism and sometimes punctuated with vulgar jokes. Lautrec painted a very romantic and imposing picture of him, with his cape thrown over his shoulders and his famous red scarf around his neck, very much in the style of the Japanese woodcut.