Art Exhibit: Toulouse-Lautrec and the Spirit of Montmartre

Montmartre is not only the scene of many works by the multifaceted artist Toulouse-Lautrec, but the social and cultural engine that defined his modern style and bohemian character.

The streets, cabarets and cafés of Paris’ Montmartre district were the scene of a creative explosion, marked by the bohemian and avant-garde young artists and intellectuals who challenged the establishment. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) and other artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Jean-Louis Forain, T. A. Steinlen, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard contributed to this flourishing, breakthrough movement outside the bourgeoisie.

Consisting of more than 350 works with international loans from public and private collections, Toulouse-Lautrec and the Spirit of Montmartre represents a journey through the centuries-old bohemian Paris. This multidisciplinary exhibition aims to understand the fundamental role that the spirit of Montmartre had in the development of modern art and the way in which Toulouse-Lautrec and his contemporaries influenced the evolution of ephemeral artistic production: posters, illustrations, prints and designs — all of which expanded the bohemian spirit and artistic creations to new audiences.

Montmartre in 1880 was a dangerous area on the edge of Paris that began to attract many young creators. Hoping to spend very little, the artists Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, Pierre Bonnard and Henri-Gabriel Ibels, the interpreters Aristide Bruant and Yvette Guilbert, the writers Émile Goudeau, Alphonse Allais and Alfred Jarry, and the musicians Erik Satie, Vincent Hyspa and Gustave Charpentier all moved to work in bohemian Paris and avoid the bourgeois center of the French capital. Montmartre was the common geographical denominator of many artists, who actively contributed to define the avant-garde aesthetic of the time.

The very streets of Montmartre and the entertainment that was found in the cabarets, theaters, concert cafés and circuses was a strong inspiration for the artists. They not only attended the shows and participated in them, but they empathized with the vagabonds, dancers and prostitutes, as they also saw themselves as living outside established society. The darker side of life at the of end of the century was reflected in the work of many talents. Toulouse-Lautrec represents a key figure linking the many artists and intellectuals who placed Montmartre in the spotlight of vanguardism in late 19th century Paris.  

Text adapted from caixaforum.es/barcelona

CaixaForum. October 18, 2018–January 20, 2019. Open daily 10:00am–8:00 pm. Entry 4€.