Known for her alluring style and exotic persona, her fame was assured by a series of dazzlingly inventive posters designed by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec She was also a close friend of the artist and he painted a series of striking portraits of her which contrast starkly with his exuberant posters. Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge brought together a rich group of paintings, posters and prints from international collections to celebrate a remarkable creative partnership which captured the excitement and spectacle of bohemian Paris.
Born Jeanne Beaudon, she suffered an abusive childhood and, aged thirteen, ran away from home. It was at one of the bal des folles, the fancy dress balls which the hospital organised for its patients, that she took her first dance steps and found both her cure and her vocation.
At the age of twenty she was taken on by the Moulin Rouge as a professional dancer. The ability to generate publicity through a carefully crafted image was the key to success and celebrity in the entertainment industry of Montmartre. The epicentre of this world was the famous Moulin Rouge. Opened in , it offered customers a nightly programme of performances by its roster of stars.
Shown from the rear, Jane Avril is instantly recognizable by her red hair. The scandalous La Goulue is seen with raised arms in the background, where the diminutive figure of Lautrec can also be made out. The ghostly face of May Milton, one of several English performers, looms into the canvas from the right. Combining sensuality and ethereal detachment, her remarkable performances captured the imagination of artists and writers alike.
This large and dramatic poster shows Jane Avril in the provocative high kick of the cancan, framed by the hand of a musician grasping the neck of a double-bass.
