Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Lot 11

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Cecy Loftus

Closed16 September 2015

Price Realised

GBP 4,000

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Cecy Loftus
lithograph printed in olive green, 1895, on chine collé paper on a wove paper support, a fine impression of this rare print, signed in pencil, numbered No. 13, from the edition of 25, published by E. Kleinmann, Paris, with his blindstamp (Lugt 1573), with wide margins, possibly fractionally reduced at right, a flattened crease at the lower left sheet corner, otherwise in good condition

L. 370 x 250 mm., S. 504 x 342 mm.

Specialist note

Maria Cecilia Loftus (1876-1943) was born in Glasgow into a family of performers. She first became known for her impersonations of both male and female variety stars at the Oxford Music Hall. Unusually for the time, Loftus worked successfully both in variety and 'proper' theatre, receiving acclaim in England and America. In 1894 she performed in Paris, where Lautrec saw her and executed this lithograph, immortalising her vaudeville swagger and sneer.

Wittrock records 12 impressions in public collections. Another impression was sold in these rooms on 29 March 2011, and is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.