Debauchery (Débauche)

Lautrec employed the lithographic process, printing four separate color plates that combine to form the final image. The lines are deliberately loose and sketch‑like, a hallmark of his rapid working method. Flat areas of pigment are applied without gradation, creating a graphic quality that foregrounds shape over modeling, while the choice of velin paper provides a slightly textured surface.

The work originally appeared in a commercial sheet titled *Catalogue d’Affiches artistiques*, which listed a Parisian address, indicating its function as a promotional poster for an art dealer’s inventory. Since its publication, the print has circulated among collectors of late‑19th‑century French prints and is documented in several museum collections specializing in Toulouse‑Lautrec’s oeuvre.

Produced during the height of the Belle Époque, the lithograph reflects the artist’s fascination with the underbelly of Paris nightlife. At this time Lautrec was documenting the cabarets, cafés and maisons de tolérance that defined the city’s entertainment district, using his distinctive, economical style to capture fleeting moments of urban decadence.