# At the Circus: The Spanish Walk (Au Cirque: Le Pas espagnol)

**Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec** (French, 1864–1901)  
1899  
Graphite, black and colored pastel, and charcoal on off-white heavy wove paper  
13 3/4 x 9 13/16 in. (35 x 25 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.731. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459241).

## About this work

A circus horse performs the Spanish walk, lifting each foreleg high in an exaggerated stride under the control of its rider. Toulouse-Lautrec drew it in 1899 during his confinement in a clinic at Neuilly, part of a series of circus scenes recalled from memory to convince his doctors that he was fit to be released, as he soon was. Working in graphite, charcoal and coloured pastel, he captures the horse’s rhythm and the strange, theatrical poise of the act with spare, assured lines.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec drew this in 1899, aged 35. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Pastel.** Sticks of almost pure pigment with very little binder. The colour sits on the paper as powder: bright, matte and fragile.
- **Charcoal.** Burnt willow or vine. It smudges and wipes away easily, which made it the natural tool for working out a composition.
- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec)

French, 1864–1901; born in Albi; died in Saint-André-du-Bois

Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic family in Albi; after two leg fractures in his teens his legs stopped growing, and he turned to art. Trained in Paris under Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon, he settled in Montmartre and recorded its dance halls, cabarets, circuses and brothels with quick, incisive line. His colour lithograph posters for the Moulin Rouge and its performers transformed the street poster. He died at the family’s Château de Malromé at the age of thirty-six.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- The artist was 35
- Real size: about 14 × 10 in (35 × 25 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: Men, Circus, Horses
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1273.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1273/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/at-the-circus-the-spanish-walk-au-cirque-le-pas-espagnol-met-459241).