Yvette Guilbert 1895

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created this unnamed image of Yvette Guilbert, with a graphic style that immediately captures your attention. The subject is framed by a muted background, but it is the bold forms and colours that draw you in. Notice how the composition uses stark lines to define the figure, particularly the striking black gloves that bisect the green of her dress. This color is echoed in her puffed sleeves, creating a visual rhyme that structures the piece. The gold lining gives the figure its final form, and this is typical of the artist's approach to form and contour. Lautrec's use of color and line not only defines the image but also challenges conventional beauty, focusing instead on the expressive power of form. His work questions fixed notions of representation, embracing fluidity and individual interpretation in our reading of his compositions.