Loïe Fuller on the dance-floor, c. 1893

by Toulouse Lautrec

A picture of American dancer Loïe Fuller performing at the "Folies Bergères" music hall, c. 1893. By Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Oil on paper on cardboard.
Height 19.30" Width 22".
Cardboard: Height. 21.65" Width 25.6".
(Accidents and tears).

Rarely have artists put symbolism at the heart of their work to the extent that Toulouse Lautrec and Loïe Fuller have.
When Marie-Louise Fuller (1862-1928), aka Loïe Fuller, first arrived in France in 1892 on the heels of her divorce from a polygamous colonel, the French aristocrat from Albi, two years her junior, had already moved on from being the darling of the Parisian salons to become a staple of Bohemian Montmartre.

Supported by a team of electricians and lighting technicians led by her brother, the young Illinois-born artist triumphed at the Folies Bergères cabaret music hall with a show that saw her twirl long veils attached to her dress with the help of thin rods held at arm's length. Elusive, she turned into a “serpentine dancer” or an orchid, thus embodying the very spirit of the "symbolist" dance... French writer Jean Lorrain described this phenomenon: "Was it a dance? A projection of light or some psychic’s summon? Who knew…Hues and shades appeared in turn, sometimes developing into spirals, suddenly agitated like wings, then falling in capricious swirls, and in the middle of the fog and moving veils, a woman's bust emerged."

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec is fascinated by this woman dancing on a backlit glass floor, her silhouette endlessly reflected by judiciously placed mirrors. Seeing her a modern version of the Nike of Samothrace, he represents “La Loïe” on the most symbolist and innovative of his posters as an incandescent flame, a vertical and dazzling movement, even going as far as sprinkling its sixty prints with gold dust. Unfortunately, Toulouse Lautrec's expectations were thwarted when Loïe, who later became Rodin's agent in the USA, entrusted other artists of lesser talent with the task of promoting her. Loïe Fuller then went on to pursue her career together with Cheret, Steinlen and Raoul Larche before dying in obscurity.

Only three of these works on paper remain: one held in the museum of Albi (MTL 152), a second one formerly part of the Wildenstein collection, and ours, which can be considered as a finished work. It went through the collections of Emmanuel Bénezit and gallery owner Marcel Guiot before being purchased in 1946 by Georgette Brisset from a family of bulk sellers at Les Halles, Paris' former central fresh food market. It remained in possession of her family ever since and was rediscovered shortly before this auction.

On this work, the dancer is seen from behind, sporting a flamboyant high bun. Mirror reflections can be guessed on her left and right, one is caught in an array of colors... But most importantly, viewers feel as if they are sitting next to the artist, dreaming of the small American girl who used to captivate the City of Light and did embody the symbolist whirlwind of Art Nouveau like no other.

Aymeric Rouillac