The Seated Clowness (Mademoiselle Cha-u-Kao) - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

A classic Post-Impressionist colour lithograph by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, capturing the performer Mademoiselle Cha-u-Kao in her stage costume.

This colour lithograph depicts Mademoiselle Cha-u-Kao, a performer at the Moulin Rouge and the Nouveau Cirque in Paris. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced this work as part of his Elles series, a collection of ten prints documenting the daily lives of women in Parisian brothels and entertainment venues. The artist captures the subject in a moment of repose, seated on a red bench with her legs spread, wearing her stage costume consisting of black tights and a prominent yellow ruff. The composition employs a flattened perspective, a technique influenced by the Japanese woodblock prints that were popular in late nineteenth-century France. Toulouse-Lautrec uses a combination of bold, solid colour blocks and delicate, stippled textures created through the lithographic process. In the background, a couple stands near a doorway, providing a sense of the environment without distracting from the primary figure. The artist avoids idealisation, choosing instead to present the performer with a direct, unvarnished gaze. The colour palette is dominated by the contrast between the stark yellow of the ruff and the deep black of the tights, set against the muted, textured tones of the interior space. This print demonstrates the artist's ability to convey character through posture and economy of line, focusing on the humanity of his subjects rather than their public personas. The work remains a primary example of his graphic output, showing his technical mastery of the lithographic stone and his observational approach to the social life of Montmartre.