In Bed, The Kiss (1892)

by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The French author Marcel Proust once wrote that when you’re first in love, you can’t get enough of each other, kissing for hours on end. He likened such countless kisses to a meadow full of flowers in May. As he put it:

“Ah, in those earliest days of love how naturally the kisses spring into life! So closely, in their profusion, do they crowd together that lovers would find it as hard to count the kisses exchanged in an hour as to count the flowers in a meadow in May.”

Likewise, in the painting below, by the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, titled “In Bed, Kissing”, we see a young couple holding each other in a tight embrace. It’s a deeply sensual scene, exuding warmth and intimacy. The two female figures hold each other tight, under the covers, with a bed that sprawls out beyond the confines of the frame. The lines are equally bold and colorful, reminiscent of a sketch or a cartoon.

Toulouse-Lautrec spent much of his time living amongst, and observing, Parisian sex-workers at a luxurious brothel at 26 rue des Moulins. He befriended many of these women, and managed to depict them in their workplace, resting and relaxing between shifts.

Consider, for example, the image below, simply titled “le lit”, or “the bed” (1892). We see two women lying under the covers, resting together. We can imagine them holding hands, or maybe their legs are gently touching. It’s a deeply sensual depiction of what it’s like to feel safe with a person. There is no erotic charge to this scene, just a sense of friendship and ease.

These scenes are also remarkable in that they suggest a completely different relationship between the painter and his models. Rather than using them to stage allegorical scenes, as was commonplace in so-called ‘academic’ art (traditions passed down and taught by the Art-academies) Lautrec simply observes the women as they are. And in so doing, he managed to depict something both deeply universal and yet strikingly different.

I’ll leave you with one more sketch. Simply titled “bed”, this one depicts a sex-worker known as Mlle Popo (her real name was Pauline Baron). This might be difficult for us to imagine today, but her mother actually managed the brothel at which she worked. One of Lautrec’s most memorable works from this period depicts the mother (Madame Baron) bringing her daughter a cup of coffee during a break.

It’s a crayon lithograph printed on paper, part of a series titled Elles, commissioned by the publisher Gustave Pellet, featuring realistic depictions of the women who worked at various Parisian brothels. Pauline is smiling and seems relaxed. The mother’s expression is more ambiguous, but she too seems fairly content. It’s an image that complicates the standard depictions of brothels, making us see these women in a new light. As Lautrec put it, “I paint things as they are. I don’t comment. I record.”

In this sense Lautrec also created images that remind us of contemporary photography and journalism. His specific genius was to make us empathize with the women, without reducing them to victims or figures to be pitied. In so doing he humanized his subjects and challenged his audience to examine their own perceptions and prejudices.

And by getting to know his subjects personally, he managed to depict their daily lives, tacitly rendering unto them the very dignity which their reputations denied them. And in this aesthetic intervention, Lautrec created an enduring and timeless image of work, love and (female) solidarity, encouraging us to see his subjects -as he did- with love and affection.

Julian

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