Toulouse-Lautrec chose the path of modernity and became the ethnographer of the society of his time, reflecting the definition given by Charles Baudelaire: "Modernity is what is transient, fugitive, contingent, half of art, the other half being the eternal and unchanging".

This path was gradually assimilated and would lead him to create the modern, vivid representation of Montmartre's nightlife in the Belle Époque with which his name is associated. It was only from the mid-1880's that he immersed himself in the bohemian lifestyle of Montmartre that was so unfamiliar to him up to that point. This transition led to a radical change in his subjects and the resources used to interpret them, but also in his life style. He was soon drawn into this obscure and shady world, becoming part of in this universe. From this time on, he masterfully distilled its pictorial essence and strange beauty, right up to his death in 1901.

The exhibition focuses in particular on this fifteen-year period during which the artist forged his unique style and a fame that was reported by the critics of his time such as Roger Marx or Félix Fénéon, among others. His preferred subjects were the entertainments of Montmartre – bars, café-concerts, theatres, circuses – and the scenes of the brothels that he regularly frequented.

His special capacity to observe, and instantly grasp a face or a furtive gesture, allowed him to create a genuine panorama of this world of pleasure and entertainment both on and off the stage, as well as its players, who were the clearly drawn cabaret singers, diseuses, actors, tightrope walkers, clowns or spectators.

The perspective of the exhibition is to introduce the graphic work of the artist: drawings, lithographs, illustrated scores, albums and posters, almost 200 works on paper to give an insight into the intimate relations that Toulouse-Lautrec had with the entertainment world and the nocturnal universe of the boudoirs and brothels.

Forty-four years after the last Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition in Brittany (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, 5 February-17 March 1963), the Dinan exhibition will shed new light on Lautrec. It reveals the multifaceted genius of this mock aristocrat who was fascinated by genres considered as unworthy, such as the café-concert or the circus and who was seeking the recognition of the "street" and the public.

Beyond the works themselves, the exhibition focuses on the social and cultural history of a period and thus resonates with the live art events (caf’conc, circus, theatre and French Cancan) programmed in Dinan throughout the summer.

Useful informations
Les nuits de Toulouse-Lautrec. De la scène aux boudoirs
CREC
Rue Victor Basch
22100 Dinan
7 July - 30 September 2007

Opening hours
Open every day, from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Admission
Full price: 7€
Concession price:
student under 26 years: 6€ ; groups: 5€
Free for children under 12

Curators
Florence Rionnet, conservateur des musées de Dinan
Jean-Paul Morel, historien d’art, auteur, critique et journaliste
Robert Rocca, historien d’art

Exhibition design
Frédéric Beauclair

Press contact
Mathilde Pigallet
Phone : 02.96.87.58.72
m.pigallet@dinan.fr