About the Work
Little is known about the art magazine L’Aube (The Dawn). Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1896 poster shows a scene taking place at daybreak. A poor people’s cart rolls by like a fateful allegory. The shine of the street lamp transforms the horse into a fabulous creature. The artist has captured the twilight mood with simple means and only two printing plates. In addition to brush and crayon, he also made use of the “crachis” technique, which employs an ink-soaked brush and a screen to create a surface structure of tiny spatters.
About the Acquisition
Immediately after World War I, the art connoisseur and bibliophile Helmut Goedeckemeyer (1898–1983) began amassing one of the largest collections of prints by Käthe Kollwitz. He supplemented these holdings with works of late nineteenth-century French and German printmaking, illustrated books by Max Slevogt, Alfred Kubin and others, and small-scale sculptures by such artists as Aristide Maillol. His collection ultimately encompassed more than 5,000 works. Goedeckemeyer’s close ties to the Städel Museum date back to the 1920s. From 1959 onwards, he and his wife Hedwig were members of the Städelscher Museums-Verein (Städel Museum Association). The City of Frankfurt acquired his Kollwitz collection for the Städtische Galerie (Municipal Gallery) in 1964. He made several gifts to the Städel collection of prints and drawings over the years, and in 1970 presented the museum with Honoré Daumier’s “Ratapoil” (inv. no. St.P391).
