Henry de Toulouse-Lautrec: Alone 1896
Toulouse-Lautrec lived his short life in full. He lived in the Parisian night, in the dancehalls and cabarets among the showgirls and artists. Toulouse’s drawings and paintings are yelling. They are singing loudly. I hear the claps and screams and I feel the heat and I smell the taste of the night. I see the dark corners of the bars filled with prurience and chagrin. His works are the recollection of a bygone era, which fell into a worldwide war. His muse was the fille de joie, the prostitute who revealed her inner true self to the artist, and through his pictures, to us. Toulouse even moved into a brothel to sketch the girls as close as he could. “Alone” is one of these sketches.
Toulouse painted the prostitute onto cardboard, which is visible all around since he did not use too much paint and let the cardboard be part of the scene as the background, the bed, and the skin. In that way, the woman looks not much more than a personal article, like sheet. It sounds terrible. She is so skinny and translucent she almost melts into the bed. Her legs in the black stockings dangle like burned matchsticks.
She is alone most likely right after the intercourse. Her client had just left. He left her shell behind, her robbed shell. Who knows how she ended up in a brothel? She must have a story to tell. I do not say she could not have chosen this life for pleasure. She could have, but then Toulouse would have not depicted her in the way he did. Like a frangible, ripped off, and delicate little bird. But do not think she is not strong. Life taught her to be tough.
She will recollect herself soon just give her some time. Perhaps she fixes her makeup first then pours another glass of wine for the next man in line. She looks up to the sky from her window to remind herself of what is worth to live on for. She arranges her smile before she receives the following client.
Despite of her defenselessness, on Toulouse’s painting, this lady of the night remains clean and pure as much as her bright white lingerie and the whiteness surrounding her sheer silhouette.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec used prostitutes but did not judge them or any other creatures of the Parisian nights. He was one of them. He was as debar as they were. Live as you wish, excluded little birds!