The EVAGORAS AND KATHLEEN LANITIS FOUNDATION presents the unique exhibition “TOULOUSE-LAUTREC AND THE BELLE ÉPOQUE IN PARIS AND ATHENS”, in collaboration with the Herakleidon Museum. The exhibition is under the auspices of the Embassy of France.
At the center of this exhibition is a rare collection of approximately 130 original works on paper by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, which the organizers have placed in the historical, social, artistic, and aesthetic context of the time (1800 to the beginning of the 20th century). Furthermore, there has been an effort to approximate the prevailing historical and artistic conditions of urban Athens of the same era, with the goal of revealing the influence of the French Belle Époque on the social and artistic life of Athens and to establish a number of obvious parallels.
Toulouse-Lautrec is best known for his works depicting scenes from cabarets, theaters, dance halls, and brothels. These were themes that the artist lived, beginning in 1885 when he moved to Montmartre and immersed himself in its nightlife. He wanted to show life as it is, not as it should be, but this objectivity was not without empathy or humor. His interest lay in portraying people, not only those he met during his nights on the town, but also his friends and the working-class citizens of Paris. He was a hard-working artist, producing an enormous body of work in a wide range of media.
