Artwork
At the Café La Mie
At the Café La Mie is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a man and a woman seated at a café table, representing a moment of proletarian life observed by Lautrec.
The painting depicts a man and a woman seated at a café table, representing a moment of proletarian life observed by Lautrec. The man is identified as Maurice Guibert, a champagne merchant portrayed as a decadent bourgeois, while the woman's identity remains unspecified, described as having a 'dubious' reputation. The work reflects the naturalistic tendencies of Lautrec, influenced by Jean-François Raffaëlli, and captures the squalor of the setting through expressive color.
Lautrec prepared the scene through preparatory study, including a photograph taken as a reference, later published in 1931.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1891, this work is an oil painting applied on a cardboard support. The dimensions are recorded as approximately 53.5 by 68 cm. Although the composition appears spontaneous, the artist employed a preparatory photograph of the subjects to guide the final execution, indicating a methodical approach rather than purely impromptu creation. Stylistically, the piece reflects a naturalistic observation of proletarian life while utilizing color to evoke an almost expressionist mood that underscores the squalor of the setting and the waiting gaze of the figures.
The sparse iron and marble table and the decadent portrayal of the male subject contribute to the work's stark atmospheric quality.
History & Provenance
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created the oil-on-cardboard painting At the Café La Mie in 1891. The work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants that same year. To aid the composition, the artist photographed the scene featuring his friend Maurice Guibert and a companion, using the image as a reference during the painting's execution; this photograph was later published in 1931.
The piece was previously owned by the Bignou Gallery before entering the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's 1891 painting At the Café La Mie is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The work, executed in oil on cardboard, measures 53.5 cm by 68 cm. Its provenance includes ownership by the Bignou Gallery prior to its acquisition by the museum. The painting was first exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1891, the same year it was created.
Later, the work was featured in a major retrospective of the artist, traveling from the Hayward Gallery in London in October 1991 to the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais in Paris in February 1992.
Context
Exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1891, At the Café La Mie was noted for its portrayal of a modest proletarian moment, blending naturalist observation with an almost expressionist use of colour. Scholars have linked its composition to Jean‑François Raffaëlli’s Les Buveurs d’absynte and highlighted Lautrec’s preparatory photograph, later published in L’Amour de l’Art (1931). The painting appears in Douglas Cooper’s 1963 monograph and Marianne Ryan’s 1991 exhibition catalogue, situating it within Lautrec’s broader focus on café and street life. Formerly held by the Bignou Gallery, it now resides in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Overview
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted At the Café La Mie in 1896, an oil work that captures a moment inside a Parisian café. The composition shows a man and a woman sharing a meal, surrounded by the cluttered interior of the establishment. The painting is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (French: ), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator.
