Femme au tub

Another place of entertainment in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century was the brothel or bordello. They were regarded as a natural way of life for Parisian husbands and an accepted privilege for bachelors. Toulouse-Lautrec frequented the brothels of Paris; it is even rumored that he lived in the brothel for a time. In the Elles series of ten prints and a cover, Toulouse-Lautrec presents his prostitutes in poses that emphasize the aspects of their lives that they had in common with women outside their profession. He shows them bathing, dressing, combing their hair, and even lying exhausted across the bed. In contrast to many of the titillating images of prostitutes seen at the time in books, periodicals, and performances, Toulouse-Lautrec presents a different version of the profession in this series.