CONFETTI made from paper was a novelty at this time, having originally been composed of rather dangerous plaster chips. The plaster variety had been outlawed in Paris since Mardi Gras in 1892, when a rage of confetti-throwing from balconies had injured passersby. Lautrec designed this poster for the London paper manufacturers J. & E. Bella.

In perhaps the gayest of all his images, a giddy, half-length girl is dizzily overwhelmed by the product she advertises. The shapes of the figure flatten and merge into decorative patterns, and the hands emerge on the paper rather than in space. The assertion of two-dimensional design at the expense of naturalism, a feature borrowed from Japanese woodblock prints, gave a visual punch to Lautrec's posters rarely achieved by his contemporaries.

Confetti
1894; Desloge 92; W P13; D 352
Lithograph in three colors. 29 x 22 inches.
Text by the artist. Artist's monogram lower right.
Gift of the Baldwin M. Baldwin Foundation, 1987:46

If you have any comments or suggestions, please use this form.
Copyright © 1996-2003 SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART