Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Le Tocsin (The Alarm Bell) aka La Chatelaine (The Lady of the Manor), 1895 is an uncharacteristically monochromatic and gothic print for one of the leading poster artists in late nineteenth-century Paris. In the foreground, a pale and ghost-like figure of a woman seems to float down a path at the edge of a dense forest. Behind her walks a lean dog, whose lowered head and tail suggest a downcast mood. In the distant background rise the daunting and unyielding walls of a castle, presumably the origin of the woman in the foreground. The thin crescent moon in the sky sets the scene at night, and the suggestion of dim moonlight lends an eerie atmosphere and sense of mystery to this scene of a woman’s late-night wanderings.

Over the course of his decade-long career, which coincided with the development of new printmaking techniques in Europe, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Albi, 1864 – Château Malromé, 1901) became renowned for his posters and prints of Parisian nightlife and was often commissioned to create advertisements for famous performers. Le Tocsin (The Alarm Bell) aka La Chatelaine (The Lady of the Manor), 1895 was commissioned by Arthur Huc, the owner of the newspaper La Dépêche de Toulouse. It advertises a serialization of the gothic romance “Le Tocsin (The Alarm Bell)” by Jules de Gastyne, which explains the mysterious and ghostly tone of the print. This version of the print is rare, as it was produced before the addition of letters naming the newspaper and the novel. Toulouse-Lautrec frequently used crachis, a lithograph printmaking technique that involves spattering ink to create an atmospheric effect, and it can be seen towards the top of this print. Prints by Toulouse-Lautrec heavily shaped French art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in his use of new subjects and techniques.

Created in 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Le Tocsin (The Alarm Bell) aka La Chatelaine (The Lady of the Manor), 1895, is a lithograph stamped with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s (Albi, 1864 – Château Malromé, 1901) monogram ‘TL’ in red in the lower right margin. Edition size unknown.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Croquis, 1898 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Adriani, Götz. Toulouse-Lautrec: The Complete Graphic Works – A Catalogue Raisonné. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1988.

2. Lugt, F. (1988). Les marques de collections de dessins & d’estampes. Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco.

3. Wittrock, Wolfgang. Toulouse-Lautrec: The Complete Prints. 

4. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Le Tocsin (The Alarm Bell) aka La Chatelaine (The Lady of the Manor), 1895, is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.