They Woman with a Tub 1896

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec made this lithograph, Woman with a Tub, using a process that was both cutting-edge and decidedly grubby. Lithography depended on a newly available material, limestone, which when treated with greasy tusche ink, could be printed in multiples. Lautrec exploited the medium’s possibilities, achieving the loose, sketchy quality we see here. It's as though the scene was jotted down with a crayon. The industrialization of printmaking enabled the widespread distribution of images, which changed visual culture forever. Lautrec was at the heart of this shift, making posters and prints that were accessible to a broad public. Yet, like the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists generally, he also took the intimacy of domestic life as his subject. This tension between industry and the quotidian is very much a part of what makes Lautrec a modern artist. It demonstrates how even the most seemingly personal image bears the trace of materials, making, and context.