 |
| Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec The little theatre box 1897 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Loie Fuller on stage 1893 lithograph British Museum |
American dancer Loie Fuller (1862-1928) became a sort of public muse to a generation of Parisian artists. Toulouse-Lautrec depicted her often, as above. Fuller's billowing silk stage-costumes, specially lighted to her own specifications, remain a presence in the work of countless painters and photographers and print-makers of the period.
 |
| Otto Greiner Sin, the Devil, and Eve 1898 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Francis Joseph Jackson Roses No. 3 late 19th century lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Jean-Louis Forain Fan leaf with Dancer and Top-Hatted Admirer 1880-1900 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Walter Sickert Little Dot Hetherington at the Bedford Music Hall ca. 1894 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Henri Fantin-Latour Glory to Richard Wagner 1886 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Henri Fantin-Latour Study for Eve 1898 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Henri Fantin-Latour Genius of music 1881 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Henri Fantin-Latour Glory to Hector Berlioz 1897 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Felicien von Myrbach Adam and Eve in Paradise 1898 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Camille Pissarro Women haymakers at Éragny 1896 lithograph British Museum |
 |
| Camille Pissarro Row of Bathers 1897 lithograph British Museum |
The Pissarro lithograph immediately above – Row of Bathers – is called Théorie de Baigneuses in the original French. I had to look up this usage of the word théorie in the dictionary. The primary meaning is a rough cognate with the sound-alike English word theory. The word in both languages derives from the Greek theorein, meaning an observer. The second meaning of théorie only entered the French language in the 18th century on the coat-tails of the so-called Classical Revival in art and fashion and politics. This new usage of théorie derived from a different Greek root-word, theoria, meaning a procession. French Neo-Classicists felt a new reverence for Roman and Greek friezes like those of the Parthenon representing processions of youths and maidens. Descending from them, théorie in this second sense now has a common meaning of a row, a line, a procession Pissarro's lithograph demonstrates the Neo-Classical influence extending its reach a century later, as reflected in the formal organization echoing ancient carved friezes.
 |
| Max Liebermann Girl reading 1890 lithograph British Museum |
I am grateful to the British Museum for making these images available.