Two women dancing

1896

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Dominant colour

Two women dancing is a 1896 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
When & what style?: 1896 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This is a quick drawing of two women dancing. It was made in 1896 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He’s the guy who made famous posters of Paris nightlife in the 1890s. The women are part of a can-can dance group called Troupe de Mademoiselle Eglantine. This drawing helped him plan a poster. Posters were his big thing. If you like this line of work, look up the technique called cross-hatching.

The story of this work

Overview

This preparatory drawing by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicts two women performing the French Cancan, each lifting her skirts with her right leg bent and raised high. The composition is arranged diagonally, with the figures filling the entire page; the dancer on the right is positioned forward, omitting her right foot and left leg, while the dancer on the left, set slightly behind, lacks her left foot. The study was part of Lautrec’s process for creating the poster *Troupe de Mademoiselle Eglantine*, a color lithograph from 1896 commissioned by dancer Jane Avril to advertise the troupe’s…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

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.

See the richer artist page