1896
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Elles: Woman at the Tub is a 1896 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman bends over a shallow tub, scrubbing her neck with a washcloth. The room is plain—wooden floor, striped wallpaper, a few simple objects. Lautrec painted this not as a glamorous scene, but as everyday life. He knew these women personally, spending time in Paris brothels. The series was meant to show their real routines, not fantasy. It didn’t sell well at first because it wasn’t what people expected. If you like this honest, unpolished style, look up *impasto*—a thick, textured way of applying paint that gives life to rough surfaces.
The French publisher Gustave Pellet, hoping to attract new customers, persuaded Lautrec to make a series of ten prints, plus frontispiece and cover, depicting brothels. Although it was not unusual to see prostitutes pictured in the popular press, Lautrec was the first well-known, successful artist to tackle this subject. The set was a commercial failure when it first appeared, perhaps because the scenes are not erotic. Lautrec had said that "they are women to my liking", and between 1892 and 1895 he often lived in various Parisian brothels for weeks at a time. This allowed him to witness the…
This print belongs to a portfolio published by the dealer Gustave Pellet, who created a special luxury paper that featured a watermark of his initials.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (French: ), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator.
See the richer artist page
