Artwork
Soudais Deposition (Déposition Soudais)
Soudais Deposition (Déposition Soudais) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec produced the lithograph *Soudis Deposition* in 1896. Executed on a smooth stone surface, the work captures a compact interior scene populated by four figures gathered around a table. The composition is rendered in loose, rapid lines that give the impression of a quick sketch rather than a finished drawing.
Subject & Meaning
The image portrays a modest, crowded room where a hat-wearing figure holds a drink, another leans forward, and a third sits with folded hands, while a solitary hat rests on the tabletop. The sparse walls and informal arrangement suggest an intimate, perhaps theatrical, moment drawn from the social life of late‑19th‑century Paris.
Technique & Style
Created by lithography, the print was drawn directly onto a prepared stone, allowing Toulouse-Lautrec to preserve the softness and immediacy of his line work. This method produces a sketch‑like quality, with fluid contours and minimal shading, characteristic of the artist’s approach to capturing fleeting scenes.
History & Provenance
Toulouse-Lautrec, born into French aristocracy in 1864, suffered severe leg injuries in his teens that stunted his growth and influenced his perspective on society. By the 1890s he was actively engaged in painting, printmaking, and illustration, documenting the nightlife and theatrical world of Paris, of which this lithograph is a representative example.
Context
The print belongs to a period when Toulouse-Lautrec frequently explored the entertainment venues of Montmartre, rendering cabarets, cafés, and backstage moments. His work often merged the immediacy of sketching with the reproducibility of print media, making scenes of contemporary urban life accessible to a broader audience.
Artist & collection
Artist
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (French: ), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator.
L'audience (3e planche) (The Hearing) (third plate)
Untitled
Late Picquet
A la table de jeu (2e planche) (At the Gambling Table) (second plate)
Groupe de joueurs
Sheets of studies of participants in a legal action
Untitled
A la table de jeu (At the Gambling Table)
Program for "Benefice Gemier" (Programme du "Bénéfice Gémier")
Ribot Deposition (Déposition Ribot)