Jane Avril

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1899

This poster was Lautrec’s last image of Avril. With her arms raised in a playful surrender, the dancer yields to an appliquéd snake, whose coils wrap around her slender black dress. Her twisted body might seem exaggerated, but it could have been prompted by Avril’s performances. As the poet Arthur Symons recalled, “She was so thin and supple that she could turn over backward…until she brushed the floor with her shoulders.”

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Date

1899

Medium

Color lithograph on tan wove paper

Dimensions

Image, incl. stray marks: 55.6 × 30.9 cm (21 15/16 × 12 3/16 in.); Sheet: 55.6 × 37.6 cm (21 15/16 × 14 13/16 in.)

Credit

Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection

Open-access artwork courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago. Mooseium is not affiliated with or endorsed by this institution.