Helene Vary

Painted in 1889 and now at the Kunsthalle Bremen, this portrait of Helene Vary belongs to Lautrec's extensive body of female portraiture from the period when he was consolidating his Montmartre connections and developing his mature style. The subject may be a model or acquaintance from his social circle. By 1889 Lautrec had already exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and was developing the poster and lithograph practice that would make him famous beyond painting. Female portraits of this period show him testing the formal economy that would define his mature style — the reduction of face and figure to their most characterful essentials.

The portrait shows Lautrec's developing economy of means — the face rendered through sparse but precisely placed marks that convey both physical appearance and psychological individuality. The background is kept minimal, directing full attention to the sitter's expression and the quality of Lautrec's characterising line.