Lautrec designed one of his most arresting posters for his hometown newspaper, La Dépêche de Toulouse. Hanging Man was commissioned to publicize Les Drames de Toulouse, novelized accounts of three sensational moments in the city’s history, including the Calas case of the 1760s, a tale of family estrangement, wrongful accusation, assumed filicide, suicide, religious intolerance, execution, and redemption that came too late. Depicted here is the macabre moment, dramatically illuminated by candlelight, when Jean Calas discovers the body of his son.
Gallery label from The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters, July 26, 2014–March 22, 2015.