HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (1864-1901) ELLES. 1896. 23 1/4x18 inches, 59x47 3/4 cm. Condition B: foxing and staining in image; water staining in lower right margin and text. Paper. Matted and framed. "Lautrec's series Elles (consisting of ten sheets with a frontispiece and cover) is one of the high-points of nineteenth-century art" (Adriani p. 222). The series depicts the prostitutes of Montmartre in a humble, intimate manner that did not flaunt their sexuality, but focused more on the banal routines of their daily lives. 100 of these portfolios were printed. The cover and frontispiece of the folio bore this image, and in 1896, when the 10 images were put on exhibition in the offices of La Plume magazine, the image, with the addition of the text (not by Lautrec's design), was re-used as a poster. In this image, we see a woman either dressing or undressing, the man's "top hat and erotic accessories . . . recall the moral habits of the 18th century" (ibid.). Adriani 171-IV, Delteil 179, Adhemar 200, DFP-II 842, Wember 767, Devynck p. 89.
