Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
1864-1901
A Riding Academy
1881-1885
Graphite on paper.
6 1/4 x 9 7/8 inches (158 x 250 mm)
Gift of Sonja Kramarsky Binkhorst in memory of Lola and Siegfried Kramarsky, and in honor of Franz Koenigs and Tine Koenigs van der Waals.
2004.36:8

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Notes: 

Toulouse-Lautrec took up drawing early. A Latin-French grammar book with over 350 marginal sketches was recently on the art market, revealing his quick and clever ability with the pen even as a sixteen-year-old about to sit for his baccalaureate degree. This period, around 1880, marked the start of his formal training with his uncle, Charles de Toulouse-Lautrec, and then the artist René Princeteau, a friend of his father's and a horse enthusiast. The world of horses, hunting, and country sports is also evident in the eleven pages from a sketchbook used by the young artist in the 1880s. Rabbits, deer, dogs, horses, and hunters feature prominently, along with a few carriages, and a sheet with a slight sketch of a circus monkey hints at his abiding interest in the world of performance. A study of a riding academy and a few more extensive sketches with urban settings suggest the artist used the sketchbook when he ventured to Paris in 1882 to study with Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon.
On the recto of this sketchbook page, six men ride horses inside an arena, overseen by a man with a whip. A spiderweb hangs in the rafters. On the verso is a partially outlined man's profile, with his hat and neck very lightly sketched.

Inscription: 

Numbered recto and verso at lower right, "8"; inscribed on recto at lower left, "T-L;" stamped on verso "FK" (Koenigs' mark, L. 1023a), and inscribed with illegible name at lower right.
Watermark: none

Provenance: 
Franz W. Koenigs (1881-1941), Cologne and Haarlem (Lugt S. 1023a); his daughter, Christine van der Waals-Koenigs, after May 1948; by whom given to Lola Kramarsky (1896-1991), New York; Siegfried (1893-1961) and Lola Kramarsky, New York; their daughter, Sonja Kramarsky Binkhorst, New York.
Associated names: 

Koenigs, Franz, former owner.
Waals-Koenigs, Christine van der, former owner.
Kramarsky, Lola, former owner.
Kramarsky, Siegfried, former owner.
Binkhorst, Sonja Kramarsky, former owner.

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