Divan Japonais 1892 - 1893

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created this poster, *Divan Japonais*, through lithography, a printmaking technique where an image is drawn on a stone or metal plate with a greasy substance, then printed. This wasn’t fine art exactly, but commercial art, advertising a Parisian cabaret. The magic of lithography lies in its ability to capture the immediacy of the artist's hand. Look closely, and you can almost feel the grain of the lithographic crayon. The bold lines and flat planes of color reflect the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, which were all the rage in Paris at the time. Consider the labor involved: Toulouse-Lautrec's artistic skill combined with the expertise of the printer, who transferred the image onto paper. This was not a unique artwork, but rather a mass-produced image, intended for wide distribution. By embracing this commercial process, Toulouse-Lautrec blurred the lines between high art and popular culture, creating an image that is both beautiful and deeply embedded in the social fabric of its time.