Redheads occupy a significant place in the work of Toulouse-Lautrec. As he declared to his atelier friends in 1884, his preference came from a characteristic odor of the redheads that he found arousing (Frey, 171), and judging by a statement by Degas- the painter that Lautrec greatly admired from a distance- it almost seems that he later managed to imbue such a characteristic into his paintings, although it was probably not particularly what he had had in mind: “Ses femmes puent la verole a plein nez”- his representation of women in art stank of syphilis (Frey, 203). This statement probably refers to Lautrec’s depictions of women in lewd contexts such as brothels or dance shows without any attempt to change the indecent scenery that he observed, conveying the full and often disturbing reality. Indeed, many of his later works openly portray prostitutes, many of whom redheaded, in colors that do not seem meant to pay them any compliments. One of such paintings is Rue des Moulins or The Medical Inspection (1894), rendering two prostitutes lining up for their periodical medical examination, their half naked bodies rendered in mostly white hues contrasting with the screaming red in the room and the black stockings hinting at sheer debauchery. The hair of the woman in the right, attributed an orange-red fiery hue, seems to almost evaporate and blend in with the rest of the background like the vapors of a cheap, strong perfume.
However, Degas probably didn’t see Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings of Carmen Gaudin, since they seem to tell a completely different story. No trace of open lewdness can be sensed in any of the paintings, not even in At Mountrouge, Rosa la Rouge, which was actually considered his first representation of prostitution (Murray, 94). There are no fiery hues openly suggesting moral or physical corruption, just delicate hints in the darkened countenance and hair that the angelic laundress has lost its purity. The somber portraits of Carmen often rendered in a pensive disposition seem to portray the fact that there were other reasons than mere physical attraction that determined him to paint her so obsessively.
Indeed, as the painter’s friend and biographer Francois Gauzi attests, Carmen’s hair was actually dyed red, but according to Gauzi, Lautrec had nothing against falsehood if it was better than the truth (Gauzi, 158). This statement seems surprising, if not disturbing, since Toulouse-Lautrec gained the reputation of depicting the utmost truth of his models, no matter how disturbing it might have seemed to the viewers. Hence, the passion for this fake redhead needs another explanation: perhaps Lautrec subconsciously saw in her a reflection of how he himself ‘colored’ his life by moving to Montmartre and gradually starting to frequent its café-concerts and brothels.
This theory also explains why upon returning to his studio after an absence of six months, Carmen was dismissed by Lautrec because her hair had lost its red hue (Gauzi, 159). Since the reason he liked to paint her was that he identified himself with her, and more specifically with her fake red hair, painting her as an ordinary brown-haired woman would have had the same connotations as considering himself an ordinary aristocrat, a condition from which he was getting farther and farther away.
Images:
Toulouse-Lautrec, Rue des Moulins: The Medical Inspection, 1894. Washington DC, National Gallery of Art.
Photograph of Carmen Gaudin posing, 1886. Julia Frey, Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life, p. 195.