Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901 )Miss Loïe Fuller. 1893. Lithograph. Sheet size: 280 x 380. Delteil 39; Wittrock 17. Printed in colors. Very nice and fresh proof on cream glazed vellum, the veil very iridescent with golden bronze ink, the background brown, without margins at the head and with irregular margin at the left (as usual). Marks of the stones very visible in the other margins. Very noticeable registration holes in the subject. Minute clear trace of oxidation around the subject. Annotation in pencil at the foot: " N° 72 - La Loïe Fuller ". Small remnants of mounting tabs, traces of glue in three corners on the reverse and slight ink stain on the right edge. Two short tears at right edge linkd to former hinges on verso. All margins. Rare: edition of approximately 60 proofs. A. Marty ed. (without the original edition mount). The additional stone of the background, very marked, is here drawn in gilt bronze. Lautrec himself is said to have helped the printer in obtaining subtle effects by touching the surface with a cotton pad and gilt bronze powder. On the freshly printed proofs, still wet, the effect produced is close to watercolor. "This lithograph, which gave rise to proofs of both different and varied aspects, was printed in black only; it was then that, on the freshly printed proofs, Lautrec took care to color them, using a cotton pad, and then sprinkling them with gold powder as a final touch, to complete the effect. It is to our friend André Marty, editor of the play, that we owe this interesting information... ". (Delteil). "To fit into the [original] montage, the sheet had to be trimmed in the right or left margin. As only ten reduced leaves are known, it seems that this plate was not successful when it was published." (Wittrock). Loïe Fuller (1862-1928) was an American dancer who became famous for her choreography in which she twirled loose veils of light fabric. Her Serpentine Dance premiered at the Park Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, on February 15, 1892, and was a huge success. The dancer then came to Paris where she was hired by the Folies Bergère and aroused the admiration and infatuation of symbolist artists. She revolutionized stage performance by her innovative use of light: spinning on a square of glass lit from below, showered by the beams of dozens of lateral projectors, sometimes augmented by sets of mirrors multiplying her infinitely moving image, she gave a new meaning to the stage space.