TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, Henri de
(b. 1864, Albi, d. 1901, Château Malromé, Langon)

The Clown Cha-U-Kao at the Moulin Rouge

1897
Colour lithograph, 41 x 32 cm
Private collection

Lautrec passionately admired Cha-U-Kao, a nude dancer, acrobat and clown, who pretended to be Japanese. He painted numerous pictures of her in all kinds of costumes, instigating various special fancy-dress events at the Moulin Rouge for this purpose.

In this lithograph, Toulouse-Lautrec generally repeats his painting of the clown Cha-U-Kao executed two years before. But in turning his hand to the graphic technique, he simplified colour relations, drew his lines more sharply, and thus achieved a precise compositional rhythm that is set by the thoroughly Japanese grille on the windows, a feature that is barely discernible in the painting.