A woman in costume rides a bucking mule in a circus ring, while a dog looks on.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

At center, a woman in a harlequin costume with black pantaloons and yellow frills on the shoulders sits astride a bucking mule. We see the rider in profile facing right, and with her chin raised high, she leans far forward with her arms straight downward, gripping the reins. Her white hair is styled high on her head and tied with a yellow bow. The mule is wide-eyed, pulling its head downward while kicking out with its hind legs. At bottom center, seen from behind, a dark colored dog, also with a bow on its head looks on from a short distance.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1979.56
People
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French (Albi 1864 - 1901 Malromé)
Title
At the Circus: The Salute (Au Cirque: Le Salut)
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1899
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/295257

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Graphite, black chalk, colored chalk, and colored crayon on white wove paper
Dimensions
35.6 x 25.4 cm (14 x 10 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: blue crayon, l.r.: HTL [monogram]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Philip and Frances L. Hofer, Cambridge, Massachusetts; bequest of Frances L. Hofer, 1979.56

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Frances L. Hofer
Accession Year
1979
Object Number
1979.56
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • 19th Century French Drawings, exh. cat., California Palace of the Legion of Honor (San Francisco, CA, 1947), no. 125 p. 76, repr.
  • Agnes Mongan, De Clouet a Matisse: Dessins français des collections américaines, exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris, 1958), no. 192, pl. 191
  • Agnes Mongan, Van Clouet tot Matisse: tentoonstelling van franse tekeningen uit amerikaanse collecties, exh. cat., Museum Boymans (Rotterdam, 1958), no. 192, pl. 176
  • Agnes Mongan, French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1959), cat. no. 192, pp. 125-26, pl. 176, repr.
  • Eunice Williams, Master Drawings and Watercolors: The Hofer Collection, exh. cat., ed. Konrad Oberhuber and William W. Robinson, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, 1984), cat. no. 35, p. 44, repr. p. 113
  • Richard Thomson and Philip Dennis Cate, Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art/Art Institute of Chicago (Washington DC / Chicago IL, 2005), repr. p. 252 as fig. 279, no. 279 in checklist p. 259

Exhibition History

  • 19th century French drawings, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 03/08/1947 - 04/06/1947
  • French Drawings from American Collections: Clouet to Matisse, Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 07/31/1958 - 09/28/1958; Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 10/24/1958 - 01/02/1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 02/03/1959 - 03/15/1959
  • Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 03/20/2005 - 06/12/2005

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu