Toulouse-Lautrec's Iconic Posters and Lithographs at Caumont-Centre d'Art

An exhibition at Caumont-Centre d'Art in Aix-en-Provence, running from April 24 to October 4, 2026, explores Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's innovative poster and lithograph work. Curated by Fanny Girard and Gilles Genty, the show features nearly one hundred works highlighting his pioneering use of lithography, which he began in 1891, and his creation of only thirty-one posters. Toulouse-Lautrec drew inspiration from chronophotography by Edward Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey, as well as the Pont-Aven school and the Nabis, adopting restricted color palettes and synthetic forms. His iconic images of performers like Jane Avril and Aristide Bruant—such as Bruant's silhouette with a black coat and red scarf—became legendary, though some subjects, like singer Yvette Guilbert, rejected his designs. The exhibition also reveals that cabaret song texts from the era contain political, patriotic, and anarchist content, not just risqué themes. Toulouse-Lautrec's posters were exhibited alongside his drawings and paintings, and a market for collectors, known as "affichomaniaques," existed as early as the 1890s.