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Julian Sheats's avatar

Wow, the plot thickens

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Julian Sheats's avatar

Very interesting.. I see what appears to be, and due to the era was the most likely case I would hazard, rather than two females in the bed in each scene It seems like there's a man and a woman?

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Julian de Medeiros's avatar

The woman with the short hair does have somewhat masculine or androgynous features, but I think it’s nevertheless safe to say she’s a woman as the series set out to only depict women. I’ve posted a link to a website that shows some of the other paintings, in which the same couple is portrayed, with the short-haired woman appearing as well. But I think maybe part of the image’s accomplishment is precisely that it creates this ambiguity. Thank you for reading and for the comment. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/toulouse-lautrec-bed-series/

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man of aran's avatar

That’s what I thought at first glance as well. The ‘male’ figure is certainly young and boyish and could easily be female, though. Perhaps there’s documentation of some kind that confirms the sexes.

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