Lithograph in colors
Adriani 115 IV b (of b). Wittrock 99 IV Pan edition 1895. Söhn Handbuch der Original-Graphik 52603-6. Monogrammed on the stone. One of 1211 copies. On smooth creme wove paper. 32,6 x 24,4 cm (12,8 x 9,6 in)Sheet: 35,4 x 27,2 cm (13,9 x 10,6 in).
From: PAN, year I, issue 3, September/Oktober 1895, plate 6 of the orig. print between 196 and 197. With typographic print in lower margin: "Originallithographie in acht Farben von H. de Toulouse-Lautrec PAN I 3". Printed by Ancourt (H. Stern), published by Pan Edition, 1895.

In 1895 the operetta 'Chilperic' by Hervé was staged in the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris. Marcelle Lender was the absolute star in this show. Toulouse-Lautrec, who admired her, cretaed six lithographs on this operetta which played in the days of the Merovingian dynasty. Five were dedicated to the main actress. On this sheet, the only lithograph in colors, Lender in a Spanish costume receiving the audience’s homage. Julius Meier-Graefe, one of the editors of PAN, got together with young artists in Paris and was regarded an avid advocat of thei art. It was his ccommitment through which Toulouse-Lautrec‘s lithograph in colors was published in 'PAN'. But the "frivolouos" illustration is met with rejection by the German audience and the magazine’s sponsors. Meier-Graefe was asked to quit. Its publication, however, can be regarded a mighty deed. The sheet is by far one of the nicest lithographs in colors by Toulouse-Lautrec. It has decisive impact on the art of young German artist, mostly those with a focus on Art Nouveau. Constricted color fields, which show Toulouse-Lautrec‘s experience with poster design, are subordinated to finest valeurs in their surface structure. The liberal design – large parts of the depiction, such as face and décolleté are left to the tone of the paper – which delivers proof of Toulouse Lautrec‘s poise in handling colors and his unmatched artistic freedom. Toulouse-Lautrec shows all his experience in working in a technique that went to unique heights, both in terms of technique as well as artistic accomplishments. [KD].