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May Belfort

A work made of color lithograph on tan wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of color lithograph on tan wove paper.

Date:

1895

Artist:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French, 1864-1901

About this artwork

The scarlet dress of May Belfort splashes color onto this otherwise minimal composition. Clad in her signature oversized baby bonnet, the Irish actress clutches a black cat; Belfort often brought her cat to her performances and tended to “meow” her songs. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec intended for this poster to be hung, as it is in this gallery, next to his design for May Milton, an English performer who was Belfort’s close friend and rumored lover.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Title

May Belfort

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1895

Medium

Color lithograph on tan wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 79.8 × 60 cm (31 7/16 × 23 5/8 in.); Sheet: 79.8 × 61.4 cm (31 7/16 × 24 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection

Reference Number

1949.1007

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/67177/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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