Ibels Programme
Ibels Programme

Artist: Henri-Gabriel Ibels French (1867-1936)

Title: Ibels Programme

Plate: M&P.02

Description: Condition A.

Orginal lithograph from "Les Menus et Programmes" 
Printed by Imprimerie Eugene Verneau, Paris, 1896.
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat. 
Certificate of Authenticity.

Sheet Size: 12 1/2 in x 8 3/4 in / 31.75 cm x 22.2 cm

Image and Text Size: 7 3/8 in x 5 5/8 in / 18.7 cm x 14.2 cm

Price: $225.00

Theatre Program for The Dreaming Beauty (La Belle au bois rêvant), 
Silver Wedding (Mariage d'argent) and Ahasuerus (Ahasvère)

The absinthe ritual in 1910:  photograph from the Virtual Absinthe Museum

A common scene in Paris at the turn of the century. Gentleman  in a cafe read their papers while drinking Absinthe "The green Fairy".

The drink was often poured over sugar cubes suspended above a cup on a spoon to dilute its bitter taste. 

Absinthe: la Fée Verte…the Green Fairy "Named for the swirling emerald opalescence triggered by the addition of iced water to the neat liquid, both the working class and wealthy bourgeoisie consumed 36 million litres a year.


French soldiers fighting in Algeria had been given the medicine as an anti-malarial treatment and brought a taste for the 73° alcohol back home. Mass-production cut prices, and a disastrous wine harvest propelled absinthe to the top of the French drinks charts.

A stroll through Montmartre at 5.00pm in the 1890s would have revealed tables with men and women, often alone, contemplating their glasses of the spirit. This was the l’Heure Verte – the Green Hour, origin of our ‘Happy Hour’. A single absinthe was tolerated by the waiters. Drinkers solved that problem by moving to another, and another and another…" (thegoodlifefrance.com)

Henri Ibels, a close friend and collaborator of Lautrec, was one of the founding members of the Nabi brotherhood, a group of artists that included Bonnard and Vuillard. This study was adapted for the portrait of Ibels published in the journal La Plume in January 1893. Afterward, Lautrec presented it to the sitter.

Henri-Gabriel Ibels (French 1867-1936) Painter, poster artist, contributed to Parisian humour magazines. Collaborated with his friend Toulouse-Lautrec, who began lithography at his insistence. "Ibels started out as stage decorator and play producer then entered the Academie Julian where he associated himself with the Nabi group. He kept up his contacts with the acting profession, designing scenery for the Theâtre Libre and the Theâtre de l'Art and producing posters for their programs. (Wine Spectator 55)