Bartet and Mounet-Sully, in Antigone 1893

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec made this lithograph of the actors Bartet and Mounet-Sully out of ink and crayon. He used these materials on a zinc plate, pulling the image onto paper. The lithograph captures the texture of the crayon and the fluidity of the ink, mimicking the energy of a live performance. Toulouse-Lautrec, known for chronicling Parisian nightlife, here captures the raw emotion of the actors as they perform onstage. The marks convey the artist's presence, a sense of immediacy achieved through the gestural application of crayon. Lithography, as a printmaking process, allows for the wide distribution of images. This tied the artist to wider social issues, making art accessible beyond the elite. It also speaks to the labor involved in both the performance being captured and the act of printing itself. Considering the materials, making, and social context allows us to appreciate the true meaning behind it, beyond the boundaries between fine art and craft.