print
- Museum number
- 1949,0411.3623
- Title
- Object: Miss May Belfort saluant
- Description
-
Actress in profile to left holding black cat, taking a bow. 1895
Crayon lithograph, printed in dark olive-green ink
- Production date
- 1895
- Dimensions
-
Height: 374 millimetres
-
Width: 266 millimetres (max.)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- (Text from 'From Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec', BM 1978, cat.113)
One of an edition of 65 impressions. May Belfort (properly May Egan) was born in Ireland; after working in the music halls of London, she arrived in Paris in January of 1895, where she performed at the Cabaret des Décadents. Her act included dressing in baby clothes and carrying a small black cat. It caused a sensation for a few months, but she soon dropped out of sight. Lautrec made a series of six lithographs of her. He also concerned himself in her domestic matters, as the following letter to Maxime Dethomas shows: 'Miss Belfort demande un époux pour sa chatte. Est ce que votre chat de Siam est mûr pour la chose? Un petit mot s.v.p. et fixez-nous un rendez-vous.' (Letters of Lautrec, p. 285.)
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1978 Mar-Oct, BM, From Manet to Toulouse-Lautrec cat. no.113
- Acquisition date
- 1949
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1949,0411.3623
