MUSEE ORSAY, Toulouse Lautrec_Jane Avril Dansant_Galerie Francoise Cachin

This painting's protagonist is a well-known dancer from the Parisian cabarets of the late 19th century, Jane Avril, who went on to be the first soloist at the Moulin Rouge and who was the inspirational muse and friend of the painter Henri de Toulouse Lautrec until he died at the age of just 37.

Here you see her dancing, just as she loved to do since she was a child. You should know, in fact, that dance was a lifeline for her after a sad childhood. Born following a relationship between a prostitute and an Italian aristocrat, after spending her first nine years with her paternal grandparents, she was entrusted to her mother who sent her to boarding school. A few years later, she tried to commit suicide by throwing herself into the Seine but was saved by some prostitutes who introduced her to Parisian nightlife and dance, to which she then devoted her whole life.

In the canvas in front of you, the ballerina is the undisputed central character. The painter has managed to capture, with just a few brushstrokes, the play of her dancing legs and the elegance of their movement. As in other works by Toulouse Lautrec, the outline is only an accessory and is therefore not relevant, in fact, only two figures can be recognized in the background, to the right. The man is the English painter William Tom Warrener, a close friend of the artist, also portrayed in the work The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge, now displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In Jane Avril Dansant you find the recurring characteristics of Toulouse Lautrec's works: the characters of Parisian nightlife, the indoor settings, the greater importance the artist gave to drawing, even more than to color. In fact, look at how diluted the colors appear, in some places you can even see the blank canvas. It is no coincidence that the author often used a few colors, predominantly green, blue, violet, yellow and red, and in many of his works the background of the medium shone through. On the other hand, he placed great importance on drawing and geometric perspective, as noted by the oblique and vertical lines drawn to give a sense of depth.

Here's an interesting fact: Henri Toulouse Lautrec was fond of saying 'I can paint until I am 40, from the age of 40 I want to be drained'. He died shortly before reaching this milestone, after a life of excesses of alcohol and prostitutes and an unhealthy passion for absinthe.