Big Passions in a Small Body: Toulouse-Lautrec at the Ara Pacis

Flavia Catarinelli

2 feb 2016

Tempo di lettura: 2 min

When I talk about Henri Toulouse-Lautrec to my friends, responses are often the same: for most people the French post-Impressionist artist is just a dwarf, alcoholic, and ill. However, sir Lautrec was not only a bohemian painter living a miserable life. He was rich. He had a lot of friends, many interests, and the passion of cocktails – meaning he loved to invent new drinks – and his friends were the Guinea pigs!

I am perfectly aware that we all love struggles, sufferings, artists with a dark past, and ears cut off after a crisis (Van Gogh is the best in it!), but, I apologize, this is not the case.

Jane Avril, 1893, Budapest Museum of Fine Arts, lithograph (in five colours) on wove paper, courtesy of Ara Pacis.

The artworks on display at the Ara Pacis (until 8 May 2016) are lithographs from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts and are not arranged chronologically, but thematically. Each room revolves around Lautrec’s public life and interests, and it is characterized by a specific color (for instance, the area dedicated to theatre is red-walled). Colors create a clear path through all the subjects of the exhibit without misplacing the visitor. Moreover, they help the visitor understand who really Lautrec was. Of course, he was not a handsome, tall, and healthy person, yet he enjoyed life pleasures more than everyone else.

The exhibit stresses out Lautrec’s ironic and unprejudiced approach, through art, to the Paris of Moulin Rouge, theaters, and prostitutes. Lautrec was, somehow, the king of the Parisian nights, and the exhibit perfectly shows this side of the artist, without forgetting his illustrations and more private artworks.

The Theatre Box with the Gilded Mask – Playbill for the Théâtre Libre, 1893 - Lithograph (in five colours) on wove paper, 50x32,5 cm - Budapest National Gallery. Courtesy of Ara Pacis.

The only break in this travel across Lautrec’s world is the corridor in which it is explained his approach to lithograph and his technique. I would have appreciated, instead, a didactic area before the display of any artwork, but the space does not allow it. The first room is too big to be used only for explanative panels. Anyway, I suggest you to give a look at the explanation of the “splatter technique”: it is well-done and fun.

La valse des lapins, 1895, lithograph in black on japan paper

After all, the exhibition is quite interesting. Not particularly creative in the use of space, it is well-organized and not too vast. The viewer can easily approach to the artist and change his mind on stereotypes regarding our lovely Henry Toulouse-Lautrec. This exhibition works for both art amateurs, tourists, and students. I recommend it, and, I ask also to take a photo dressed as a Moulin Rouge dancer: it is a bit trashy, but fun!

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