Objective Art: Toulouse-Lautrec - Paris, Athens

Herakleidon: "Toulouse-Lautrec and the Belle Epoque in Paris and Athens"

(...) Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) is best known for his works depicting scenes from cabarets, theaters, dance halls, and brothels. These were themes that the artist lived, beginning in 1885 when he moved to Montmartre and immersed himself in its nightlife. He wanted to show life as it is, not as it should be, but this objectivity was not without empathy or humor. (...)

At the center of this exhibition is a rare collection of approximately 70 original works on paper by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, which the organizers have placed in the historical, social, artistic, and aesthetic context of the time (1800 to the beginning of the 20th century). Furthermore, there has been an effort to approximate the prevailing historical and artistic conditions of urban Athens of the same era, with the goal of revealing the influence of the French Belle Epoque on the social and artistic life of Athens and to establish a number of obvious parallels. (...)

- Caption: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Troupe de Mademoiselle Eglantine, 1896, lithograph -

The urban way of life and the means of entertainment in Greece during the last two decades of the 19th century have been re-created with the help of rare archival material, mainly from the collections of the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archives (E.L.I.A.), the Benaki Museum Photographic Archive, Alpha Bank and Mr. Petros Vergos. Publicity posters, often created by important Greek artists such as Gyzis and Galanos, calendar and journal covers, photographs and postcards, theatrical programs with emphasis on French repertoire, and literary passages invite the visitor to become acquainted with the flavor of that era. (...)

Herakleidon, Experience in Visual Arts is located at16 Herakleidon St., Thissio, Tel.: 210 34 61 981 and runs to 4th May. The museum is open on Tue-Sat: 13:00-21:00, Sun: 11:00-19:00, Monday: closed

- Caption: Man on Horseback, Acropolis in the background (ca.1900), Benaki Museum -

The exhibition has been extended! See part II >>>