This clear connection between the color red and prostitution is clearly seen in Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1892 poster, Reine de Joie, which originally advertised a novel by Victor Joze, a friend of the artist who lived nearby in Montmartre. Reine de Joie, mœurs du demi-monde (translated as “Queen of Joy, or the World of Easy Virtue”), first published in Joze’s Montmartre-based magazine, le Fin de siécle, was part of an erotic series entitled “The Social Menagerie” and detailed the activities of Parisian prostitutes (Frey 304). In the poster, Toulouse-Lautrec depicts two of the book’s characters: Hélène, the pretty young woman, is easily identified as a prostitute by the cherry-red lipstick on her puckered lips and the tight scarlet dress hugging her body. In each instance, the bright, flat color functions as an indicator of her profession by drawing attention to both her body and her behavior. The kiss she plants boldly on her repulsive but wealthy patron’s nose, inappropriately unconcerned with the opinions of their table companions, is highlighted by the crimson tint on her lips. Her seductive, twisting position and sinuous curves are accentuated by the bright red of her dress. The presence of a wine ewer on the table, a traditional symbol for fecundity and the female sexuality (Desloge 204), further emphasizes the identity of this “scarlet woman.” As such, Reine de Joie showcases Toulouse-Lautrec’s clear associations between the color red and the mercenary sexuality of prostitution during the early 1890s.
IMAGE
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de. Reine de Joie. 1892. The Posters of Toulouse-Lautrec. Andre Sauret. Monte-Carlo, France: Andre Sauret, 1966. Plate II.