The Clown: M. Joret

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Toulous-Lautrec drew caricatures throughout his career, beginning with the albums filled with small drawings that he made as a teenager. As he sat in Parisian clubs and cafes years later, he was still producing humorous sketches of the people he encountered. His hundreds of caricatures are varied in style, ranging from schematic outlines of figures to more finished and traditional "portraits-charges" sporting big heads and small bodies. This vigorous early drawing of a clown falls into the category of exaggerated sketch. Since clowns are meant to look funny to begin with, it is diffcult to asses to what degree the crossed eyes and enormous mustache were part of the man's actual appearance. Yet the brisk lines that give him a wild look place the drawing well within the realm of Toulouse-Lautrec's caricatures. Such caricatures informed much of the artist's other work including his humorous designs for song sheets, menus, theater programs, posters, and such journals as "Le Rire".

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art