Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - The Sofa [c.1894-96]

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - The Sofa [c.1894-96], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

An inveterate chronicler of the colourful and tawdry nightlife of fin-de-siècle Montmartre, Lautrec set out to document the lives of prostitutes in a series of pictures made between 1892 and 1896. In creating these uninhibited works, he seems to have been influenced by Degas's monotypes of brothel scenes and by erotic Japanese Shunga prints. Lautrec was no stranger to the world-weary ‘filles de maison’ whose companionship he sought and whose habits he observed on his nightly rounds. Critical of stiff and lifeless models, he appreciated the naturalness of prostitutes "who stretch themselves out on the divans . . . entirely without pretensions." At first Lautrec made sketches in the brothels, but he was apparently hampered by insufficient lighting and had the prostitutes pose in his studio.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on cardboard, 62.9 x 81 cm]