The Seated Clowness (Mademoiselle Cha-u-ka-o) (from the series Elles)

Description

Cha-u-ka-o sits on a red bench with widely placed black-stockinged legs, a yellow bodice and white collar giving her costume strong accents. Two figures occupy the left background. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec gives the clown and dancer a quiet offstage presence, allowing the named performer to become a particular person at rest rather than only a public persona in action.

The 1896 lithograph belongs to Elles and is printed in five colors using crayon, brush, spatter and scraping. Its varied graphic means preserve an intimate portrayal in a lasting form. The image’s interest lies in that shift of attention from performance to repose, where the named figure can hold the viewer’s regard through an ordinary seated presence rather than the spectacle of an act.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec collection.