Aristide Bruant, in His Cabaret

Aristide Bruant, in His Cabaret — Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. 1893.

Medium: Color lithograph on buff wove paper. Dimensions: Image: 127.3 × 94 cm (50 1/8 × 37 1/16 in.); Sheet, sight: 138 × 99.1 cm (54 3/8 × 39 1/16 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

During his popular cabaret performances, Aristide Bruant adopted the role of a social outsider who regularly criticized upper-class society and commented on current events with biting humor. Despite its antiestablishment reputation, Bruant’s cabaret, Le Mirliton, attracted patrons from a wide variety of backgrounds—even upper-class Parisians, who came expecting Bruant to openly ridicule them during and after the shows. In 1892 Bruant commissioned Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec to design a poster advertising his performances at the upscale Ambassadeurs and Eldorado clubs. The artist created an iconic portrait of the singer that reduced his likeness to its most memorable elements: a wide-brimmed hat, black cloak, and bright-red scarf. Over time Toulouse-Lautrec reused and adapted this unmistakable image in many different designs to publicize Bruant’s shows at Le Mirliton.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.