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Lot Essay
During the 1890s, La Comédie Française kept alive the traditional and classical aspects of French theater, while new companies such as Aurelian Lugné-Poë's Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, and André Antoine's Théâtre Libre, heavily influenced by the new symbolist dramas of Maurice Maeterlinck, constituted the new avant-garde.
Marthe Mellot was the leading actress in the Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, which Lugné-Poë inaugurated in 1893 with a production of Ibsen's Rosmersholm. She was married to Alfred Natanson, whose older brothers Alexandre and Thadée had founded the famous literary and cultural review La Revue Blanche in 1891. Thadée was married to the Polish pianist Misia, who quickly became a celebrity in her own right. The sisters-in-law Misia and Marthe were inspirational muses to a host of artists and writers in the fin de siècle avant-garde.
In his folio Portraits d'Acteurs & d'Actrices, Treize Lithographies, published in 1898, Lautrec drew personalities mostly associated with La Comédie Française, but he was interested in the repertory of the more progressive companies as well. The present work, a projected cover for the review L'Image, shows Marthe Mellot standing in contemporary dress (in contrast to the period costumes one usually saw at La Comédie Française). "Mellot's attractive yet menacing presence suggests the role of the dangerously seductive female so important to French avant-garde theater at the turn of the century" (E.M. Maurer, in Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, exh. cat. op. cit., p. 277).
This is Lautrec's most insightful characterization of Mellot. The artist drew her on several occasions around this time (Dortu, nos. D. 4.562, S. 4.659-663 and D. 4.672). He also featured her in his last poster, La Gitane (Delteil 368; Wittrock P 30), done in 1899 for the production of Jean Richepin's play at the Théâtre Libre and there is a large oil sketch related to the poster (Dortu, no. P.717).
Marthe Mellot was the leading actress in the Théâtre de l'Oeuvre, which Lugné-Poë inaugurated in 1893 with a production of Ibsen's Rosmersholm. She was married to Alfred Natanson, whose older brothers Alexandre and Thadée had founded the famous literary and cultural review La Revue Blanche in 1891. Thadée was married to the Polish pianist Misia, who quickly became a celebrity in her own right. The sisters-in-law Misia and Marthe were inspirational muses to a host of artists and writers in the fin de siècle avant-garde.
In his folio Portraits d'Acteurs & d'Actrices, Treize Lithographies, published in 1898, Lautrec drew personalities mostly associated with La Comédie Française, but he was interested in the repertory of the more progressive companies as well. The present work, a projected cover for the review L'Image, shows Marthe Mellot standing in contemporary dress (in contrast to the period costumes one usually saw at La Comédie Française). "Mellot's attractive yet menacing presence suggests the role of the dangerously seductive female so important to French avant-garde theater at the turn of the century" (E.M. Maurer, in Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, exh. cat. op. cit., p. 277).
This is Lautrec's most insightful characterization of Mellot. The artist drew her on several occasions around this time (Dortu, nos. D. 4.562, S. 4.659-663 and D. 4.672). He also featured her in his last poster, La Gitane (Delteil 368; Wittrock P 30), done in 1899 for the production of Jean Richepin's play at the Théâtre Libre and there is a large oil sketch related to the poster (Dortu, no. P.717).