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TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND JANE AVRIL:
BEYOND THE MOULIN ROUGE
Through 18 September 2011
"Painter and model, together, have created a true art of our time, one through movement,
one through representation." Arsène Alexandre, the critic, writing in 1893 about Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril
Nicknamed La Mélinite after a powerful form of explosive, the dancer Jane Avril (1868-
1943) was one of the stars of the Moulin Rouge in the 1890s. Known for her alluring style
and exotic persona, her fame was assured by a series of dazzlingly inventive posters
designed by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Jane Avril became an
emblematic figure in Lautrec’s world of dancers, cabaret singers, musicians and
prostitutes. However, she was also a close friend of the artist and he painted a series of
striking portraits of her which contrast starkly with his exuberant posters. Organised
around The Courtauld Gallery’s painting Jane Avril in the Entrance to the Moulin Rouge,
the exhibition explores these different public and private images of Jane Avril. Toulouse-
Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge brings together a rich group of
paintings, posters and prints from international collections to celebrate a remarkable
creative partnership which captured the excitement and spectacle of bohemian Paris.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
Jane Avril Leaving the Moulin Rouge, 1892
Oil on cardboard, 84.3 x 63.4 cm
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Hartford, CT. Bequest of George A. Gay
In contrast to Toulouse-Lautrec, who was a member of one of France’s oldest noble
families, Jane Avril was the daughter of a courtesan. Born Jeanne Beaudon, she suffered
an abusive childhood and, aged thirteen, ran away from home. The following year she
entered the formidable Salpêtrière hospital in Paris to be treated for a nervous disorder
popularly known as St Vitus’ Dance. It was at one of the bal des folles, the fancy dress
balls which the hospital organised for its patients, that she took her first dance steps and
found both her cure and her vocation. New research undertaken for this exhibition
examines the connections between her eccentric movements, described by one observer
as an ‘orchid in a frenzy’, and contemporary medical theories of female hysteria. Her
experiences helped shape her public persona and, as a performer, she was not only
known as La Mélinite but also as L’Etrange (the Strange One) and Jane La Folle (Crazy
Jane).
Unknown photographer
Jane Avril at the Moulin Rouge c. 1892
At the age of twenty she was taken on by the Moulin Rouge as a professional dancer.
Adopting the stage name Jane Avril (suggested to her by an English lover), she was
determined to make her mark as a star in the flourishing world of the Montmartre dancehalls
and cabarets, which featured such larger-than-life personalities as La Goulue (the
Glutton), Grille d’Egout (Sewer-grate) and Nini les-Pattes-en-l’air (Nini legs-aloft). The
ability to generate publicity through a carefully crafted image was the key to success and
celebrity in the entertainment industry of Montmartre. A racy portrait of the brazen La
Goulue, lent to the exhibition by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, underscores the
contrasting sophistication of Avril’s public image.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Jane Avril, 1899
Colour lithograph, 56 x 38 cm
The epicentre of this world was the famous Moulin Rouge. Opened in 1889, it offered
customers a nightly programme of performances by its roster of stars. At the Moulin
Rouge (fig. 5), an exceptional loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, is one of Toulouse-
Lautrec’s most celebrated paintings and a highlight of the exhibition. It serves as the
artist’s homage to this venue as well as a monumental group portrait of his circle. Shown
from the rear, Jane Avril is instantly recognizable by her red hair. The scandalous La
Goulue is seen with raised arms in the background, where the diminutive figure of Lautrec
can also be made out. The ghostly face of May Milton, one of several English performers, looms into the canvas from the right.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
At the Moulin Rouge, 1892-93
Oil on canvas, 123 x 141 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen
Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection
Somerset House
150 Strand, Charing Cross, City of London WC2R 0HS, United Kingdom
020 7848 2579 www.courtauld.ac.uk/
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