Maurice Guibert - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec wearing Jane Avril's hat and boa - circa 1892.
Maurice seems to have advanced around 1890 to becoming the private and unofficial pictorial chronicler of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. What have survived are photographs of Lautrec swimming naked during a sailing meet on the sea by Arcachon (1896). In a letter to his mother from November 1891, the artist speaks of "wonderfully beautiful photographs of Malrome" that Guibert will send to her. It was above all Guibert who urged his friend to have his portrait taken repeatedly - and in the most ridiculous clothing: Lautrec dressed as a woman, wearing Jane Avril's famous hat decorated with boa on his head (1892); Lautrec as a squinting Japanese in a traditional kimono (also 1892); or as Pierrot (1894) - a sad clown who apparently needed little by way of costuming to create a convincing image. Jean Adhemar has subjected this portfolio to searching analysis: "Thanks to Guibert," writes the former curator of the Bibliotheque nationale, "we accompany Lautrec from 1890 to his death. One sees him in the most various surroundings and in all possible poses. It is particularly striking, however, that we meet a natural Lautrec at most only two or three times. The artist always poses himself; aware that he is being photographed, he places himself in a scene, he never seeks to hide his deformities. On the contrary, he presents them openly, expressly emphasizing his ugliness and his dwarfish stature." - Arthur
Size: 1923px × 3173px
Photo credit: © photo-fox / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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