Famous Top 10 Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec Paintings

Count Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa is one of the most avant-garde French Post-Impressionist painters of the late 19th century. A master of the poster, who brought worldwide fame to the cabarets of Montmartre, he also became famous thanks to his unrivaled talent as a portraitist. Women always occupied a central place in his works, from street prostitutes of Paris to famous actresses and singers of that time. The artist also often depicted, in his numerous canvases, his mistresses and women acquaintances from high society.

Thanks to his mastery, Henri was able to capture even the tiniest details of his models’ appearance, conveying the many facets of the beautiful women of France at the end of the 19th century. Today, many art lovers also discover contemporary hand-painted artworks and reproductions on platforms such as tryartwork.com.

The artist was born in the city of Albi on 24.11.1864 and died at the Château Malromé on 09.09.1901, devoting 20 years of his short life to creativity. He left this world very young, at the age of 37, suffering from alcoholism and syphilis.

During his short life, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec managed to create 737 paintings. In addition, his collection includes 275 watercolors, 5,084 drawings, 363 engravings and posters, as well as ceramic pieces and stained-glass works. We present to you ten of the artist’s most famous works.

At The Moulin Rouge, the dance (1890)

The painting At The Moulin Rouge, the dance was created in 1890 in oil and represents the second work in the artist’s series of graphic canvases depicting the famous cabaret that opened in 1889 in the French capital, Paris. Today, this painting is housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

On the canvas, the artist depicted a man and a woman dancing the cancan in the center of a dance floor crowded with various people. On the back of the painting, a recently discovered inscription by the artist reads “Instructions for Beginners by Valentin le Désossé,” indicating that the famous French dancer is teaching a new cabaret performer her dance steps. The young woman, wearing a light-colored dress, bright red stockings, and heeled shoes, is enthusiastically dancing the chahut-cancan, raising her leg high, while her partner — known as Valentin the Boneless (Édouard-Étienne-Jules Renaudin) — teaches her the correct movements. He is dressed in a strict black suit and a black top hat, a fashionable accessory of that era.

To the right of the painting is an unknown aristocratic woman wearing a pink satin dress, a hat adorned with yellow and white feathers, and black gloves. Beside her stands the famous cabaret dancer Jane Avril, observing the dancing couple. In the background, we see men—aristocrats dressed in dark suits, coats, black top hats and bowlers—talking among themselves. Among them, the viewer can spot the poet Edward Yates, the owner of the establishment, and the gray-bearded father of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Count Alphonse, who is speaking with a man in a bowler hat.

Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891)

The poster Moulin Rouge: La Goulue is a color lithograph released in 1891 in an edition of three thousand copies. It features an advertisement for the famous French dancer Louise Weber (La Goulue) and the dancer Valentin le Désossé, who performed at the renowned Parisian cabaret "Moulin Rouge."

Many of the posters were used as promotional material for the venue and were later lost, while the surviving ones are preserved in the Indianapolis Museum of Art and other collections.

The lithograph, executed in four colors, depicts La Goulue and her partner Valentin le Désossé. The artist created this poster to serve as a promotional billboard advertising the performers’ appearances at the “Moulin Rouge.” The work is executed in the fashionable Japanese style of the time, where the audience is shown as silhouettes and all attention is focused on the dancers. In the center of the poster, the viewer can see the figure of La Goulue herself, against which the name of the club is written three times. The dancer’s snow-white skirts, painted with just a few brushstrokes, reflect the artist’s characteristic style and stand out from other late-19th-century posters overloaded with bright colors and excessive text.

This poster became the artist’s first work in lithography, yet it immediately gained wide popularity and captivated Parisian society with its unusual design.

At the Moulin Rouge (1892–1895)

The painting At the Moulin Rouge was created between 1892 and 1895 and is now kept at the Art Institute of Chicago, as part of the Memorial Collection of the well-known Helen Birch Bartlett.

In the background of the canvas, the artist depicted himself in profile. At the table in the center of the cabaret sit three men and two women. Among them, the viewer can recognize the writer Édouard Dujardin, the dancer La Macarona, as well as two photographers — Paul Sescau and Maurice Guibert. The woman with bright red hair sitting with her back to the audience is Jane Avril, and on the right in the foreground is May Milton — a dancer from England with bright red lips. The characteristic green cabaret light is reflected on her face. In the background, the artist depicted the famous cancan dancer La Goulue adjusting her hairstyle, and next to her an unknown woman with her hands on her hips. Toulouse-Lautrec himself stands in the background wearing a brown coat and a bowler hat next to a tall man — Dr. Gabriel Tapié de Céleyran, dressed in a black tailcoat and bowler hat. The artist captured the lively and cheerful atmosphere of the cabaret, where various representatives of French society gathered. The color palette is rich with vivid reds, browns, greens, and yellows, which are characteristic of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s work.

The Laundry Worker (1886)

The painting The Laundry Worker was created in 1886 and is currently held in a private collection. In 2005, the canvas was sold at Christie’s auction for $22,400,000.

The artwork depicts a young woman, Carmen Gaudin, who worked in a laundry during the day and as a prostitute at night. The artist managed to convey the hardships of life endured by people of lower social classes in the 19th century.

Toulouse-Lautrec wrote to his mother about meeting a beautiful red-haired girl whose modest simplicity quickly captivated him and who later became his favorite model for many paintings.

On the canvas, the viewer sees a young laundress in a simple white blouse and black skirt, forced to work at night to earn enough money to survive. She stands leaning on a table, gazing through a small window with a detached expression filled with sorrow and sadness. While this painting did not achieve great fame, it attracted significant interest from many historians and art enthusiasts due to its artistic value.

Similar themes of everyday hardship and intimate realism can also be found in works by other artists of the era, many of which are available today as high-quality reproduction oil paintings created with respect for the original techniques and style.

La Toilette (1889)

The painting The Lady’s Toilet, also known simply as The Toilet, was created in 1889 and is currently housed in the Musée d’Orsay. On the canvas, the artist depicts the interior of a woman’s dressing room. In the center, the viewer sees a half-naked woman sitting with her back turned on a rug spread across the floor. She is wearing only a white petticoat and black stockings slipping down her legs. Her red hair is gathered in a bun. To her left stands a wicker chair with clothing casually thrown over it. In front of her is a zinc bathing basin, and to the right a wicker table. It is likely that the woman intended to bathe, but something distracted her, and now she sits on the floor absorbed in her thoughts.

The painting is executed with bold, strong brushstrokes in bright blue, yellow, green, pink, and white tones. The artist portrayed a simple room of an ordinary French woman where she bathes and relaxes after long working days.

La Goulue Arriving at the Moulin Rouge with Two Women (1892)

The 1891 painting Moulin Rouge: La Goulue, also known as La Goulue Enters the Moulin Rouge, depicts the famous cabaret dancer who earned the title “Queen of Montmartre” for her unmatched mastery of the can-can. In the center, the viewer sees La Goulue (Louise Weber) entering the venue, accompanied on the right by her sister and on the left by her lover.

In French, “La Goulue” means “The Glutton,” a nickname she received for her insatiable love of luxury and her habit of drinking champagne or wine from the glasses of spectators during her dance. Toulouse-Lautrec often depicted her in his works. A simple laundress from the Paris suburbs, Louise Weber had great ambition — in the evenings she would go dancing in nearby cabarets wearing the dresses of clients whose clothes she washed. She became the originator of the famous final can-can move: after a whirlwind performance, she lifted her leg high and dropped into a full split with a shout.

In the painting, she appears in a semi-transparent white dress with a deep neckline, revealing part of her chest. Her red hair is styled high, and a black satin ribbon choker adorns her neck. In the background stands a man in a black coat and top hat, likely attending another evening performance. Her iconic appearance made her instantly recognizable in the works of the famous artist. Today, the canvas is part of the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Jane Avril (1893)

The 1893 lithograph Jane Avril is currently held in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The black-and-white poster features the famous cabaret dancer Jane Avril wearing a voluminous dress and a wide-brimmed hat, spinning in a dynamic dance. The blurred background hints at a stage and lighting. With precise black-and-white lines, the artist captured the fragile, twisting body of the woman moving rhythmically. This simple yet eye-catching poster was used to promote performances of the renowned Moulin Rouge cabaret dancer.

In Bed (1892)

The 1892 painting Le Lit (In Bed) is housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The canvas is part of a series of four works where the artist depicted people lying in bed, often portraying intimate lesbian relationships.

The viewer sees two women resting on large white pillows in a wide wooden-framed bed. They are covered with a red blanket and a white sheet, their heads turned toward each other. The room is filled with warm light, creating an atmosphere of comfort and sensual calm. The artist invites us into the intimate world of a lesbian couple who appear to have just awakened and are now enjoying the gentle morning light. Toulouse-Lautrec became widely known for his depictions of Parisian nightlife and the daily struggles of people from the lower social classes.

Aristide Bruant in his Cabaret (1893)

The 1892 lithograph Aristide Bruant is a poster that was reprinted in various versions until 1912. Copies today are held in the Albi Museum, the Montmartre Museum, private collections of Paul Mellon and Harrison, and in the National Library of France.

The poster depicts the artist’s friend — the cabaret singer Aristide Bruant. He is dressed in a black coat, with a bright red knitted scarf wrapped around his neck and a wide-brimmed black hat. In his hand he holds a wooden cane. His expression is stern and focused.

During his performances, Bruant often criticized the upper classes and commented on French social life with sharp, witty remarks. He became an outsider of Parisian high society, yet his cabaret Le Mirliton remained highly popular among the aristocracy, who applauded his bold satirical monologues.

In 1892, Bruant asked Toulouse-Lautrec to create a poster to promote his performances at the famous clubs “Ambassadeurs” and “Eldorado.” The artist crafted an iconic image that captured the entertainer’s wardrobe and expression. He later adapted the poster into several versions for Le Mirliton.

Le Divan Japonais (1893)

The 1893 lithograph The Japanese Couch was created as an advertisement for a well-known café-chantant of the same name. The poster features three iconic figures of Montmartre. One of them is the famous cabaret dancer Jane Avril, a close friend of the artist, here shown as a spectator watching a performance by Yvette Guilbert at the venue “The Japanese Couch.” She wears a strict black dress and a black feathered hat. To the right sits writer and nightlife habitué Édouard Dujardin with his long red beard, a black top hat, and a white ruffled tie.

In the orchestra pit, the artist depicted musical instruments and musicians in gray tones, led by a conductor. On stage stands the slender figure of Yvette Guilbert in a long dress, her thin arms emphasized by long black satin gloves.

Parisian nightclub owners often attracted visitors by advertising the names of popular dancers who entertained guests both on and off the stage.

Toulouse-Lautrec’s Art and Its Influence on 19th-Century Culture

In creating his works, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec drew inspiration from the post-Impressionists of his time, including the paintings of Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas, as well as Japanese color woodblock prints. These artistic influences formed part of the broader visual culture of the era, which also included the legacy of other masters — for example, works highlighted in our selection Famous Top 10 Eugene Delacroix Paintings.

His favorite models included the dancer La Goulue (Louise Weber), Jane Avril, circus performer Cha-U-Kao, cabaret singer Aristide Bruant, cabaret dancer Valentin le Désossé, and singer Yvette Guilbert. Another recurring model was a red-haired woman who often visited “Élysée-Montmartre” and later transmitted syphilis to the artist.

At the entrance of the Moulin Rouge cabaret, the owners hung two of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters and commissioned him to create an advertising poster — his first major work in this style.

The artist developed a unique technique combining drawing on tinted paper using pastels, charcoal, and white chalk, along with new watercolor and gouache methods.

His works were exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants of the Society of Independent Artists, as well as at the exhibition in Brussels of the group known as “Les XX – La Libre Esthétique” in 1895–1896. During his lifetime, he had solo exhibitions in Paris (1896) and London (1898). Critics did not always welcome his work, and only after his death did he receive worldwide recognition. In 1922, in Albi — the artist’s birthplace — a museum dedicated to him was opened. In 2008, the Tretyakov Gallery held an exhibition titled Parisian Pleasures featuring his artworks.