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Lot 438
May Belfort. 1895.
Ended
Est.
$17,000 - $20,000
Timed Auction
PAI-XCI: Second Chance Posters
Description
Price: $17500 (starting bid + 25% buyer’s premium)
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May Belfort. 1895.
“May Belfort, whom [Lautrec] represented in at least ten works, had gained a reputation for corrupt innocence by appearing onstage dressed as a baby holding a black kitten in her arms, and ‘miaowing or bleating’ her popular song, 'Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow-Wow,' whose lines had a double meaning which was not lost on the French-speaking audience: ‘I’ve got a pussycat, I’m very fond of that’” (Frey, p. 382). This would have been particularly amusing for the audience, as Belfort was in an openly lesbian affair with the English dancer May Milton.

Size: 23 1/4 x 31 1/8 in./59 x 79 cm
Condition: B+/ Slight tears at edges. Framed.
Printer: Kleinmann, Paris
Reference: Wittrock, p. 14B; Adriani, 126; PAI-LXXXIX, 397
Key Words: Art Nouveau; Artist: Toulouse-Lautrec; Cabaret; Dance