Lot 249 D α

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was endowed with a masterful gift of observation and a highly developed sense of empathy towards his fellow human beings. This enabled him to precisely grasp the extremely diverse characters around him - whether in the night life of Paris, his circle of family and friends or mundane everyday situations - and to depict them in a powerfully and concisely evocative manner. In doing so, he often utilised caricatural stylistic devices in order to bring out personal peculiarities with no concern for aesthetic considerations. His direct and unvarnished depictions of human types are pointed and expose a great deal regarding his subjects' character, although they always preserve a respect for the individual person. This is also shown by the drawing offered here, which features the scene of a doctor's examination. The artist had an intense interest in medical procedures and treatments, as is also apparent in the images he created in 1891/1892 of the well-known surgeon Dr Jules-Émile Péan at work (see Dortu P. 384 as well as D. 3.172 ff.).