“Secrets of the Paris Stage,” a book-illustrative exhibition dedicated to the 155th birthday of the outstanding French painter and graphic artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), runs in the fine arts room number 306, from November 14 to December 10.

Circuses and music halls, cabarets and cafe-chantans, dancers and singers, clowns and chansonniers, the vibrant life of bohemia... The world captured by the artist is a world of entertainment, spectacles and festivals, but this is only the outward beauty and brilliance of the Parisian stage. The funny and entertaining images are overshadowed with bitterness and drama. It is not accidental that the artist showed the grotesque, the wrong side of life and the existential crisis under the guise of entertainment. Consanguineous relationship between his parents, aggravated by injuries sustained in accident, made the artist an invalid with a disproportionate body.

He stood firm, in spite of life circumstances. Reading people like open books, regardless of age, profession and estate, the artist captured their true nature, inner essence, in a number of portraits, pastels, drawings and caricatures. Having a physical disability in life, the master transferred to his canvases the beauty of the human body, the flexibility of dancers, the dexterity of circus acrobats and gymnasts.

The exhibition presents the reproductions of the works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Dance at the Moulin Rouge, The Clown Cha-U-Kao, The Jockey, Moulin de la Galette, the portrait of French singer and actress Yvette Guilbert, the Circus Paintings and lithographs reflecting the unpretentious life of the poor and peasants.

Toulouse-Lautrec left a great legacy of polychrome posters. The artist was among the first to use the paint spray technique in graphics, making the poster a real work of art. The reproductions of Aristide Bruant, Divan Japonais, Jane Avril are on display.

The exposition presents a variety of books about the master, including La vie de Toulouse-Lautrec by Henri Perruchot, novel Moulin Rouge by Pierre La Mure, the essays of known art critics Lionello Venturi, Gerhard Gruitrooy, Nina Vorkunova etc.

Illustrated books about post-impressionism, publications about the artist’s life and work, as well as the representation of the personality and work of Toulouse-Lautrec in modern culture are presented.

The opening hours of the exhibition correspond to the library’s opening hours.
Admission is by library card or by ticket of the library's social and cultural center. Information and tickets may be obtained at the registration desk.

For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 53.

Special Collections Service Department