May Belfort (1895): Art, History and Details

May Belfort (1895) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was inspired by café concerts, popular places of Parisian entertainment that featured singers or other performers. This drawing depicts May Belfort, one such entertainer, who the artist discovered in 1895 during a visit to the popular nightclub Les Décadents. Belfort soon became one of Lautrec's favorite models and is seen here wearing the ruffled dress and bonnet that became a signature of her performances. The singer adopted a babyish voice and stood motionless on the stage, encouraging her fans to shout lyrics along with her.

Object facts

• Title: May Belfort
• Date: 1895
• Creator attribution: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: oil on millboard
• Dimensions: Sheet: 62.5 x 48.2 cm (24 5/8 x 19 in.); Framed: 86 x 71.5 x 8.9 cm (33 7/8 x 28 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1958.54

A detail from the museum

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicted May Belfort in numerous prints, drawings, posters, and paintings.

Collection credit

Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Further reading listed by the museum

• Portraits and Other Works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, no. 28. Exh. cat. London: Goupil Gallery, 1898.
• H. de Toulouse-Lautrec. Exh. cat. Paris: Galeries Durand-Ruel, 1902.
• Duret, Théodore. “Les Affiches d’art de Toulouse-Lautrec.” La Renaissance de l’art français et des industries de luxe 2 (1919): 381-83.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.