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Source Description
Cleveland’s 1925 purchase of this work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec marked the first acquisition of one of the artist’s drawings by a museum in the United States. Its subject, Monsieur Boileau, was a gossip columnist known to drink heavily at Le Mirliton, a nightclub. Here, saturated, acidic tones evoke the room’s gas lamps and thinned oil paint absorbs into its support, producing texture that complements the scene’s grittiness. In his own time, Toulouse-Lautrec was considered a portraitist for such depictions of friends and other inhabitants of his neighborhood. He preferred drawing for its immediacy, using it to record his sitters’ personalities through materials and formal choices.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
173263
label
Monsieur Boileau at the Café
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
173263
contentType
drawing
title
Monsieur Boileau at the Café
description
Cleveland’s 1925 purchase of this work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec marked the first acquisition of one of the artist’s drawings by a museum in the United States. Its subject, Monsieur Boileau, was a gossip columnist known to drink heavily at Le Mirliton, a nightclub. Here, saturated, acidic tones evoke the room’s gas lamps and thinned oil paint absorbs into its support, producing texture that complements the scene’s grittiness. In his own time, Toulouse-Lautrec was considered a portraitist for such depictions of friends and other inhabitants of his neighborhood. He preferred drawing for its immediacy, using it to record his sitters’ personalities through materials and formal choices.
date
1893
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q117230237
creators
1856
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 80.3 x 65 cm (31 5/8 x 25 9/16 in.); Framed: 105.4 x 89.5 x 8.3 cm (41 1/2 x 35 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
1925.1409
Source extras
tec
oil and tempera with charcoal on millboard
tombstone
Monsieur Boileau at the Café, 1893. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901). Oil and tempera with charcoal on millboard; sheet: 80.3 x 65 cm (31 5/8 x 25 9/16 in.); framed: 105.4 x 89.5 x 8.3 cm (41 1/2 x 35 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection, 1925.1409
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
inscribed, upper left, in gouache: à mon ami Boileau / HTLautrec [HTL in monogram]
formerAccessionNumbers
394.1925
didYouKnow
The green drink on the table is probably absinthe, a popular drink with artists at the time that was thought to have hallucinogenic properties.
citations
citation
<em>Exposition des Indépendants</em>. Exh. Cat. Paris: Pavillion de la ville, 1893.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 1246
citation
Saunier, Charles. "Critique d'Art: Salon des Indépendants," <em>La Plume</em>, no. 96 (April 15, 1893): 171-73.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 172
citation
Coquiot, Gustave. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth, 1923.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 56; Reproduced: pl. 27
citation
Brook, Alexander. "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec." <em>The Arts </em>4, no. 3 (September 1923): 125-165.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 158
citation
Barthélemy, A. <em>Paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Exh. Cat. Chicago: Arts Club of Chicago, 1924.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 1; Reproduced: cover
citation
Milliken, William M. "A Painting by Toulouse-Lautrec." <em>Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 12, no. 10 (December 1925): 159-161.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 159-161; Reproduced: n.p.
citation
Joyant, Maurice. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, peintre, 1864-1901</em>. Paris: Floury, 1926.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: vol. I, p. 148
citation
Joyant, Maurice. "Toulouse-Lautrec." <em>L'Art et l'artistes</em> (February 1927): 145-172.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 155
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 40
citation
“Lists of Objects in the Exhibition.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 16, no. 9 (1929): 159–75.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 167
citation
<em>Exposition H. de Toulouse-Lautrec au profit de la Société des Amis du Musée d'Albi.</em> Exh. Cat. Paris: Musée des arts décoratifs, 1931.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 98
citation
Wilenski, R. H. <em>French Painting</em>. Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1931.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 277
citation
MacOrlan, Pierre. <em>Lautrec: peintre de la lumière froide</em>. Paris: Floury, 1934.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 95
citation
<em>Independent Painters of Nineteenth Century Paris</em>. Exh. Cat. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1935.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 34, no. 54
citation
Milliken, William M. "The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art." <em>The Art News</em> 34, no. 37 (June 13, 1936): 7-14.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 14
citation
Milliken, William M. "Superb Art Display Marks Cleveland Museum's 20th Anniversary." <em>Art Digest</em> 10 (July 1, 1936): 5-22.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 20
citation
<em>Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings, Drawings, Posters, Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Musée D'Albi, France. </em>Exh. Cat. New York: M. Knoedler and Company, 1937.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 24, no. 14; Reproduced: pl. 14
citation
Uhde, Wilhelm. <em>The Impressionists</em>. Vienna: Phaidon, 1937.
page_number
Reproduced: pl. 107
citation
Milliken, William. "Silver Jubilee Exhibition." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>28, no.6 (June 1941): 88-108
page_number
Mentioned: p. 89
citation
"Cleveland Museum: It is a treasure trove of great art masterpieces from all around the world." <em>Life</em> (September 20, 1943): 64-68.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 68
citation
Jewell, Edward Alden and Aimee Crane. <em>French Impressionists and their Contemporaries Represented in American Collections</em>. New York: Hyperion, 1944.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 174
citation
<em>Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 37
citation
Visson, Vladimir. <em>A Loan Exhibition of Toulouse-Lautrec, For the Benefit of the Goddard Neighborhood Center.</em> New York: Wildenstein and Company. 1946.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 35, no. 22
citation
<em>Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Posters by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,</em> <em>1864-1901</em>. Exh. Cat. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute Department of Fine Arts. 1947.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 13, no. 16; Reproduced: opp. p. 12
citation
Saint-Gaudens, Homer. "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1864-1901." <em>Carnegie Magazine</em> (1947).
page_number
Reproduced: p. 257
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: p. 15, no. 42; Reproduced: pl. V
citation
Jourdain, Francis. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Paris: Braun, 1951.
page_number
Reproduced: pl. 22
citation
Mack, Gerstle. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: Knopf, 1952.
page_number
Mentoined: p. 268
citation
Cooper, Douglas. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. New York: Abrams, 1952.
page_number
Reproduced: n.p.
citation
<em>Toulouse-Lautrec: Exhibition Organized in Collaboration with the Albi Museum. </em>Exh. Cat. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art. 1955.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 39
citation
Jourdain, Francis and Jean Adhémar. <em>T-Lautrec : Essai sur Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Paris: P. Tisne, 1955.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 86
citation
Dortu, M.G., Jean Adhémar, and Madeleine Grillaert. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec en belgique</em>. Paris: Editart, 1955.
page_number
Reproduced: n.p.
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. 25; Reproduced: p. 17
citation
<em>A Loan Exhibition of 19th and 20th Century French Paintings: Masterpieces Recalled, for the Benefit of the League for Emotionally Disturbed Children, Inc.</em> Exh. Cat. New York: Paul Rosenberg & Co, 1957.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 33
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 510
citation
Lowry, Bates.<em> The Visual Experience: An Introduction to Art. </em>Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1961.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 72-73; Reproduced: pp. 72, 77
citation
<em>Centenaire de Toulouse-Lautrec.</em> Exh. Cat. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1964.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 57-58, no. 43; Reproduced: p. 56
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
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: no. 36; Reproduced: pl. xxxvi
citation
Lassaigne, Jacques. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec e la parigi dei cabarets</em>. Milan: Fabbri, 1969.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 99; Reproduced: pl. xxxi
citation
Dortu, M. G. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre</em>. New York: Collectors Editions, 1971.
page_number
Mentioned: vol. 2, pp. 282-83; Reproduced: p. 283.
citation
Lieberman, William S., ed. <em>Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse</em>. Exh. Cat. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1975.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 208, 268, no. 107; Reproduced: pp. 17, 209
citation
Thomson, Richard. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. London: Oresko, 1977.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 72, no. 43
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
Stuckey, Charles F. <em>Toulouse-Lautrec: Paintings</em>. Exh. Cat. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1979.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 290
citation
<em>Tabacco storia arte</em>. Rome: Amministrazione dei monopoli di stato, 1980.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 184; Reproduced: p. 221
citation
Henze, Anton. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Leben und Werk</em>. Stuttgart: Belser, 1982.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 37; Reproduced: p. 38
citation
<em>Toulouse-Lautrec.</em> Exh. Cat. London: South Bank Centre, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 18, 23, 133, 160; Reproduced: p 161.
citation
Schimmel, Herbert D., ed. <em>The Letters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec</em>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 205, n. 1
citation
Murray, Gale Barbara.<em> Toulouse-Lautrec: A Retrospective. </em>New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1992.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 191
citation
Walther, Ingo F. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864-1901.</em> Koln: Benedikt Taschen, 1993.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 86
citation
Robinson, Fred Miller. <em>The Man in the Bowler Hat: His History and Iconography.</em> Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 72-74; Reproduced: p. 73.
citation
Shimohama, Akiko and Chūji Ikegami. <em>Rōtorekku.</em> Tōkyō: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 1993.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 22-23; Reproduced: p. 23, pl. 34
citation
Pelfrey, Robert H. <em>Art and Mass Media.</em> Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1996.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 74-75; Reproduced: p. 74.
citation
Cate, Phlilip 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. 69, 256, no. 91; Reproduced: p. 84
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 14
citation
Bos, Eric. <em>Absinthe, het grote kwaad: de groene fee als inspiratiebron van de kunsten</em>. Groningen : Boekwerk & partners, 2016.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 9
citation
Zmelty, Nicolas-Henri. <em>Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: La Stratégie de l'Ephémère.</em> Paris: Éditions Hazan, 2019.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 150; reproduced: p. 153, no. 95
citation
Lloyd, Christopher. <em>Impressionist & Post-Impressionist Drawings.</em> New York, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2019.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 271
citation
Zmelty, Nicolas-Henri, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: la stratégie de l'éphémère. 2019.
page_number
repr. p. 753, no. 95, mentioned p. 150
citation
Salsbury, Britany. “Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: The widely recognized collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>vol. 62, no. 4 (December 2022): Cover, 18-19.
page_number
Reproduced: Cover.
citation
Brown, Heather Lemonedes. "Monsieur Boileau at the Cafe." In <em>Nineteenth-Century French Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art, </em>24-31. Lewes, UK, Cleveland, Ohio: GILES; Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 24-31
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. 37a
catalogueRaisonne
Dortu P.465
creditline
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:50:57.394000
sourceId
173263
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
oil and tempera with charcoal on millboard
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
0ebd58f7da90a410