Toulouse-Lautrec "Alone"- question

fsutrill · #1 06-07-2005, 04:16 AM

I was able to go to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris this weekend and saw the painting "Alone" by Toulouse- Lautrec. Alone- image

As I examined the painting closely, it appeared that the subject was rather....racy, shall we say. I did an extensive google search last night to see if there was any story or commentary about this painting (and if what I *thought* it depicted was what it actually depicted, although since it is Lautrec, chances are better than average that it is *exactly* what I thought!).

Does anyone have a "backstory" for this painting (or a link or something). Thanks in advance...
Cheryl

Keith2 · #2 06-07-2005, 02:50 PM

I've been to the Musee d'Orsay twice and I can't recollect seeing the picture - although of course there's so many beautiful works there that you can't see everything.

Toulouse Lautrec was fond of visiting brothels, and he did lots of paintings and drawings based on his experiences in them. I'm not sure that a back story is necessary, as the picture exists of itself.

fsutrill · #3 06-08-2005, 03:51 AM

It was on the same floor as the impressionists, but not with all the Monet/Renoir/Degas- the pastels are in a darkened corner on that same floor/wing, and it's in the series of rooms after that (I want to say with Gauguin/Sisley). I was quite surprised to find a Lautrec there, since most of his stuff had been grouped in a different place.

I wish I could be more specific, but we also visited the Louvre that day and everything is kind of fuzzy in my mind without the maps/brochures/pictures in front of me!

MarkMark · #4 06-08-2005, 04:19 AM

You are definitely correct.. The lady on the bed is almost certainly entertaining herself..

Thank god for the likes of Lautrec who could portray this scene in a way that is beautiful as it is...

Im sure there is no story behind this beyond it being a rather beautiful drawing. My feeling is that Lautrec was probably a client and had simply asked the young lady to pose for him this way.

fsutrill · #5 06-08-2005, 04:25 AM

LOL! I thought that maybe I just had an extremely dirty mind!
Cheryl

MarkMark · #6 06-08-2005, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fsutrill

LOL! I thought that maybe I just had an extremely dirty mind!
Cheryl

No not at all..........

anney · #7 06-08-2005, 05:02 PM

From what I know from Toulouse Lautrec, the lady is most probably a prostitute, that takes some time to rest between two "customers", not sure the lady is posing. Toulouse Lautrec himself was a regular "customer", but also considered as a confident by the prostitues of "maisons closes" (borthels). The following painting is another example of the life in "maisons closes": it represents prostitues waiting for the doctor to check them.

http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pimage?46261+0+0

Anne

NVCali · #8 04-02-2012, 10:15 PM

This is an old thread, but I wanted to share what I know.

This is possibly my favorite piece, when I saw it in person I stared at it for about an hour.

The research I've come across suggests that this is actually a portrait of a friend of his, who was of course a "working girl". It was painted at the end of a very long night, after she returned to her room and collapsed in bed from exhaustion. The title "Alone" (wich is not what he named it) hints at the idea that, after many hours of spreading physical love to all that would have her, she was relegated to pass out in an empty room, without anyone to hold or cherish her or call her own.

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