Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000304May Belfort
About the Artwork
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inspired by café concerts, popular places of Parisian entertainment that featured singers or other performers. This drawing depicts May Belfort, one such entertainer, who the artist discovered in 1895 during a visit to the popular nightclub Les Décadents. Belfort soon became one of Lautrec's favorite models and is seen here wearing the ruffled dress and bonnet that became a signature of her performances. The singer adopted a babyish voice and stood motionless on the stage, encouraging her fans to shout lyrics along with her.
Inscriptions
inscribed, lower right, in oil: HTLautrec
Provenance
?-by 1909: (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris) after 1909-?: (Etienne Bignou, Paris) ?-?: (Alexander Reid & Lefevre, Ltd., London) ?-1927: (Kraushaar Galleries, New York) 1927-1931: Lizzie P. Bliss [1864–1931], New York, by descent to her estate 1931-after 1934: estate of Lizzie P. Bliss, New York after 1934-1948: George M. Moffett, Jr., Queenstown, MD 1948: (Maynard Walker Gallery, New York) 1948-1958: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. [1889–1957], Cleveland, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH 1958-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Toulouse-Lautrec. Palais de la Berbie, Albi, Albi, France (organizer) (June 1-September 30, 1964). Seven Decades of Modern Art. Rosenberg & Co., New York, NY (organizer) (April 26-May 21, 1966). Art and the Stage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 22-August 16, 1981). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000). Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (March 20-June 12, 2005). Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008). Mary Cassatt and the Feminine Ideal in 19th-Century Paris. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 14, 2012-January 20, 2013). Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Der Weg in die Moderne. Kunstforum Wien, Vienna, Austria (organizer) (October 16, 2014-January 25, 2015). Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-June 11, 2023).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)
- Date
- 1895
- Medium
- oil on millboard
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 62.5 x 48.2 cm (24 5/8 x 19 in.); Framed: 86 x 71.5 x 8.9 cm (33 7/8 x 28 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
- Accession no.
- 1958.54
More by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00000304
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