After over a year of closing for refurbishments, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum finally reopened last November 23rd with “Commemorative Reopening Exhibition: Absences – Toulouse-Lautrec & Sophie Calle” running until January 26th next year. The show was originally slated for 2020, but was consequently cancelled due to the pandemic. The global phenomenon, though unfortunate, was perhaps, a timely occasion to extract the theme of loss, absence and presence.

French writer, photographer and artist Sophie Calle carried this vision to document legendary Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s outstanding works that reflect the subjects of presence and absence. As Lautrec himself stated, “Only the human figure exists; landscape is, and should be, no more than an accessory; the painter exclusively of landscape is nothing but a bore.” He studied human beings profusely, sinking into their psyche, and diffused them in his works, which continue to live today as “existence.”

The renowned painter’s “absence” in art history was manifested by French museums’ disregard of his posters and paintings during his era. It was only from 1902 after his death that his masterpieces had begun to enjoy deserved public attention. Maurice Joyant, Lautrec’s schoolmate preserved and protected a large number of the artist’s works. The exhibition presents approximately 130 of these, including eleven on loan from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum has acquired a majority of pieces from Joyant, comprising about 32 posters and prints on display. Alas, Lautrec’s loss of recognition has been redeemed with hundreds of accomplishments disseminated worldwide.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, May Milton, 1895, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo

Pablo Picasso was greatly inspired by Lautrec, and incorporated Lautrec’s inclination towards life among the circus and poor social class into his own paintings. The special relationship between the two grand masters is emanated in this showcase. As a homage to Lautrec, Picasso repainted Lautrec’s celebrated poster May Milton (1895), seen hung on the wall in his exceptional painting, The Blue Room (1901), now part of The Philipps Collection in Washington, D.C. Milton was a dancer at the Moulin Rouge whom Lautrec drew several times. The artist’s bold application of a flat and simplified silhouette became a mark of his illustrations. The piece appeared in a magazine and was exhibited at the World Poster Exhibition in Reims.

Two floors are devoted to Lautrec’s collections, which include his popular works. Moulin Rouge, la Goulue (1891), Lautrec’s first poster made known to the general public, depicts the dancer La Goulue in refined lines. Her white flowing dress contrasts the black shadowed figures in the background. The other dancer Valentin le Désossé takes the foreground in gray, creating a sharp depth of field. The strong composition of delicate lines outlining plain configurations has become Lautrec’s distinctive technique.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Eldorado, Aristide Bruant, 1892, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo

Eldorado, Aristide Bruant (1892) was dedicated to the singer, comedian and club owner, most identifiable by Lautrec’s portrayal of his red scarf, black cape and broadly brimmed black hat. Born in a bourgeois family, but struggled after his father’s bankruptcy, Bruant represented the working class, and sang songs of the hardships of the poor. Lautrec was drawn to such narratives when he frequented the clubs, and transposed them in his works.