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Lot Essay
La Macarona en jockey is a playful portrait of one of Toulouse-Lautrec's friends from the lively entertainment world of fin-de-siècle Paris. La Macarona, a famous Quadrille dancer and a friend of the artist's, is shown here dressed as a jockey, but leaning as though against a bar. Indeed, the bar setting is far more apt to the work of the artist from this period, and to the world of his subject than any outdoor equestrian scene. Like Jane Avril and the other famous dancers of the era whom Toulouse-Lautrec knew, La Macarona appeared in several of his paintings, and indeed her features are amongst those of the artist's friends shown around a table in his iconic Au Moulin Rouge, 1892-1893, now in the Art Institute of Chicago. The latter image of the artist relaxing in his favoured bohemian environment shows La Macarona's face represented from the same angle, and with almost the same expression, as in La Macarona en jockey. There is another version of the present subject in the collection of the Art Institute (Dortu P.475, and not P.476 as incorrectly cited in Dortu).
By 1893, Toulouse-Lautrec was firmly ensconced as a character in the Parisian nightlife, and served as its painter-in-residence. For a couple of years, he had been creating his posters celebrating the revels available at the shows. La Macarona en jockey bears several similarities to those posters, with the artist deliberately making use of the space in reserve to thrust the figure into the foreground. This use of 'reserve', more often noted in his works on paper than in his oils, is also reminiscent of the Japanese art that was becoming an increasing influence to Toulouse-Lautrec's work during this period. Indeed, La Macarona en jockey pays tribute to one of the great characters of Toulouse-Lautrec's legendary coterie, and also marks the consolidation of his dynamic and intensely modern artistic style.
By 1893, Toulouse-Lautrec was firmly ensconced as a character in the Parisian nightlife, and served as its painter-in-residence. For a couple of years, he had been creating his posters celebrating the revels available at the shows. La Macarona en jockey bears several similarities to those posters, with the artist deliberately making use of the space in reserve to thrust the figure into the foreground. This use of 'reserve', more often noted in his works on paper than in his oils, is also reminiscent of the Japanese art that was becoming an increasing influence to Toulouse-Lautrec's work during this period. Indeed, La Macarona en jockey pays tribute to one of the great characters of Toulouse-Lautrec's legendary coterie, and also marks the consolidation of his dynamic and intensely modern artistic style.