Homme debout c. 1879 - 1881

Here we see a sketch of a standing man made by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He used graphite on paper. The immediacy and rawness of the graphite lines are crucial to the drawing's impact. With an economy of means, Toulouse-Lautrec has captured the figure's essence. The texture of the paper itself becomes part of the artwork, lending a tactile quality to the image. Consider the labor involved: from the harvesting of graphite, to its processing into a drawing implement, to the artist's skilled hand moving across the page. The work captures the ethos of modern life. This drawing invites us to appreciate the beauty in the everyday, and to reconsider the value we place on both materials and artistic labor.