Elles

After Abandon Toulouse-Lautrec continued to draw the lesbians but portrayed them individually. In 1896 he published eleven lithographs entitled Elles (the female form of “they” or “them” in French), and most of the models are lesbians. However, unlike his previous Sapphic art, the prostitutes are rarely pictured together; even if they are, they are greatly distanced apart. Most of the lithographs display the prostitute alone in her chamber or occasionally with a man. A viewer could hardly tell that the women in these works are lesbians. There is absolutely no embrace, no connection between them. The focus is on the women satisfying the needs of the men, not on the intimate lesbian relationships. The lithographs take us through a typical day of a prostitute. They portray the woman waking up, bathing, applying makeup, undressing and dressing in front of the men, and then resting on the bed after performing the day’s services. The main figure in Elles is Cha-U-Kao, a lesbian prostitute at the Moulin Rouge who was also known as La Clownesse. Toulouse-Lautrec was not interested in painting her when she was young and beautiful but rather when she was old and fat. He was not willing to portray the beauty of the lesbians. The critics were actually disappointed when they saw the Elles exhibition; they were hoping for a more erotic and titillating display. However, Toulouse-Lautrec was avoiding such a theme, especially concerning his lesbians.

This is a summary from David Sweetman’sToulouse-Lautrec and the Fin de Siecle pp. 368-372. The full citation can be found on the Works Cited page.