A ballerina stands waiting in a room with an open curtain at one end.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A ballerina in a tutu stands expectantly in the center of a dimly lit room. She faces away from us but we see her face in profile, turned to the right. Her right hand is down at her side, holding a folded fan with feathery plumage. Across a wooden floor, another costumed performer stands by a wall also facing away from us, near a partially pulled back curtain which opens onto a darkened space. Pastel touches of pink, blue, yellow and purple highlight the ballerina’s slippers, fan and hair, as well as the performer’s costume.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.922
People
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French (Albi 1864 - 1901 Malromé)
Title
At the Circus: In the Wings (Au Cirque: Dans les coulisses)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Ballet Dancer
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1899
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297476

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black and colored chalks and graphite on thin cream wove paper
Dimensions
actual: 31.1 x 20.2 cm (12 1/4 x 7 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: l.r., black chalk: à la colombe / de l'arche / HT Lautrec / à Madrid les / bains 1899 / Jeudi 9 mars

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Maurice Joyant; acquired through Martin Birnbaum by Grenville L. Winthrop, April 1940; his bequest to the Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.922
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • [Reproduction only], Reproduction, Le Figaro Illustré, (April 1902)., pg. 13
  • M. G. Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre (New York, NY, 1971), vol. 6, pp. 862-63, no. D.4.549, repr.
  • Jean Sagne, Toulouse-Lautrec au cirque, Flammarion (Paris, France, 1991), p. 44, repr. p. 45
  • Stephan Wolohojian, ed., A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press (U.S.) (New York, 2003), cat. no. 132, repr. (color)

Exhibition History

  • Exposition H. de Toulouse-Lautrec, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 04/09/1931 - 05/17/1931
  • A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 10/23/2003 - 01/25/2004

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