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Source Description
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inspired by café concerts, popular places of Parisian entertainment that featured singers or other performers. This drawing depicts May Belfort, one such entertainer, who the artist discovered in 1895 during a visit to the popular nightclub Les Décadents. Belfort soon became one of Lautrec's favorite models and is seen here wearing the ruffled dress and bonnet that became a signature of her performances. The singer adopted a babyish voice and stood motionless on the stage, encouraging her fans to shout lyrics along with her.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
135515
label
May Belfort
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
135515
contentType
drawing
title
May Belfort
description
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inspired by café concerts, popular places of Parisian entertainment that featured singers or other performers. This drawing depicts May Belfort, one such entertainer, who the artist discovered in 1895 during a visit to the popular nightclub Les Décadents. Belfort soon became one of Lautrec's favorite models and is seen here wearing the ruffled dress and bonnet that became a signature of her performances. The singer adopted a babyish voice and stood motionless on the stage, encouraging her fans to shout lyrics along with her.
date
1895
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60780795
creators
1856
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 62.5 x 48.2 cm (24 5/8 x 19 in.); Framed: 86 x 71.5 x 8.9 cm (33 7/8 x 28 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
1958.54
Source extras
tec
oil on millboard
tombstone
May Belfort, 1895. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901). Oil on millboard; sheet: 62.5 x 48.2 cm (24 5/8 x 19 in.); framed: 86 x 71.5 x 8.9 cm (33 7/8 x 28 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., 1958.54
supportMaterials
description
cardboard
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
inscribed, lower right, in oil: HTLautrec
didYouKnow
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted May Belfort in numerous prints, drawings, posters, and paintings.
citations
citation
<em>Portraits and Other Works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>, no. 28. Exh. cat. London: Goupil Gallery, 1898.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 4, no. 28
citation
<em>H. de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Exh. cat. Paris: Galeries Durand-Ruel, 1902.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 15
citation
Duret, Théodore. “Les Affiches d’art de Toulouse-Lautrec.” <em>La Renaissance de l’art français et des industries de luxe</em> 2 (1919): 381-83.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 383
citation
Régnier, Henri de. <em>L’Art moderne et quelques aspects de l’art d’autrefois</em>. Paris: Bernheim-Jeune, 1919.
page_number
Reproduced: vol. 2, pl. 159
citation
Duret, Théodore. <em>Lautrec.</em> Paris: Bernheim-Jeune and Cie, 1920.
page_number
Reproduced: pl. XII
citation
Coquiot, Gustave. <em>Lautrec, ou Quinze ans de moeurs parisiennes, 1885–1900</em>. Paris: Ollendorff, 1921.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 164, 218
citation
Joyant, Maurice. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901, peintre</em>. Paris: Floury, 1926.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 290
citation
<em>A Century of French Painting</em>. Exh. cat. Glasgow: Alex Reid and Lefèvre, 1927.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 30, no 41
citation
<em>Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901</em>. Exh. cat. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1930.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 23–24, no. 25
citation
<em>Tenth Loan Exhibition: Lautrec, Redon</em>. Exh. cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1931.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 15, no. 23; Reproduced: pl. 23
citation
<em>Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lizzie P. Bliss</em>. Exh. cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1931.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 38, no. 142; Reproduced: pl. 142
citation
<em>The Lillie P. Bliss Collection</em>. Exh. cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1934.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 6, 69-70, no. 66; Reproduced: pl. 66
citation
Mack, Gerstle. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1938.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 176
citation
Lassaigne, Jacques. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. London: Hyperion, 1939.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 102
citation
<em>Six Masters of Post-Impressionism</em>. Exh. cat. New York: Wildenstein, 1948.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 37, no. 31; Reproduced: p. 40
citation
Florisoone, Michel and M. G. Dortu. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec: Exposition en l’honneur du cinquantième anniversaire de sa mort</em>. Exh. cat. Paris: Orangerie des Tuileries, 1951.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 22-23, no. 62
citation
<em>Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Lithographs</em>. Exh. cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1956.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 46, no. 32; Reproduced: p. 20-21
citation
<em>Centenaire de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Exh. cat. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1964.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 74-76, no. 60; Reproduced: p. 75
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 179
citation
<em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864–1901</em>. Exh. cat. Vienna: Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, 1966.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 62, no. 20; Reproduced: pl. 19
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 179
citation
Caproni, Giorgio. <em>L’Opera completa di Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Milan: Rizzoli, 1969.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 114 (ill.), no. 421a
citation
Novotny, Fritz. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: Phaidon, 1969.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 192; Reproduced: pl. 83
citation
Dortu, M. G. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec et son œuvre</em>. New York: Collectors Editions, 1971.
page_number
Mentioned: vol. 3, pp. 362, no. 588; Reproduced: p. 363
citation
Thomson, Richard. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. London: Oresko Books, 1977.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 84-85
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 222
citation
Monneret, Sophie. <em>L'Impressionnisme et son </em>époque. Paris: Denoel, 1979.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 314
citation
Cooper, Douglas. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: Abrams, 1982.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 106; Reproduced: p. 107
citation
<em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Hayward Gallery, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 332
citation
Denvir, Bernard. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 153; Reproduced: p. 22
citation
Schimmel, Herbert. <em>The Letters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 321n2
citation
Kokatsu, Reiko. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 44, no. 40
citation
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 3
citation
Cate, Phillip Dennis, Mary Weaver Chapin, and Richard Thomson. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre</em>. Exh. cat. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2005.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 141, 257, no. 198; Reproduced: p. 184
citation
Benesch, Evelyn and Ingried Brugger, eds. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Der Weg in die Moderne</em>. Exh. cat. Vienna: Kunstforum Wien, 2015.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 96, 242, no. 40
citation
Marchesseau, Daniel, et al . <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec à la Belle Époque, French Cancans: Œuvres graphiques, une collection privée</em>. Exh. cat. Martigny: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2017.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 141
citation
Vircondelet, Alain. <em>Dans les Pas de Toulouse-Lautrec: Nuits de la Belle Époqu</em>e. Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2019.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 136-37 (image identified incorrectly as CMA drawing)
citation
Salsbury, Britany. <em>Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Lewes, UK, Cleveland, Ohio: GILES; Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 176-181, no. 37b
citation
Walsh, Irene M.<em> Lillie P. Bliss: Collector, Advocate, and Visionary Benefactor of the Museum of Modern Art.</em> London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2025.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 70-74, fig. 3.10
catalogueRaisonne
Dortu P588
creditline
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:55:24.279000
sourceId
135515
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
oil on millboard
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a60e10f57d721aa2