The Falconer, Comte Alphonse de Toulouse Lautrec 1881

Curator: This oil painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, created in 1881, is entitled "The Falconer, Comte Alphonse de Toulouse Lautrec." It's currently housed at the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, France. Editor: There's a windswept feeling, an almost unfinished quality, and an immediacy here. The falconer, perched atop his steed, reaches skyward, offering, or perhaps releasing, his bird against a tumultuous pink and blue sky. It's like catching a fleeting dream. Curator: Precisely. Notice the bold, visible brushstrokes? This speaks to Lautrec's early engagement with Impressionism. He's capturing a moment in time, but also revealing the materiality of the paint itself. This was made at a time when new paint pigments were available, thus impacting artistic practices by allowing plein air paintings. Editor: Absolutely, and I'm wondering about that tension, the contrast between the noble pursuit of falconry and the loose, almost frantic application of the pigment. He is riding for pleasure. But it also feels… I don't know…slightly absurd? I find it whimsical. Curator: Consider the social context. Lautrec came from an aristocratic family; falconry would have been a familiar pastime. His identity was one of both privilege and exclusion due to his physical disabilities; this is another interesting tension between inside/outside perspective within elite culture. Editor: That explains something of my gut feeling of something almost ironic in the whole composition, of life not necessarily fitting the frame expected. The way the landscape sort of dissolves around the figures… everything seems in flux, and the painting medium captures the atmospheric transience perfectly. What does the location itself adds? Curator: Knowing it resides in the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec within the Palais de la Berbie adds layers, understanding how place also influences his oeuvre in returning "home" and to themes rooted in heritage, class, landscape as materials too. Editor: This journey for the audience adds dimensions for us to consider class, legacy and material, to appreciate his vision that, albeit fleeting, provides much to ponder and question.