Abandonment (The pair), 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Medium: oil,cardboard
L'abandon (Les deux amies)
"...Pictures such as L'abandon (Les deux amies) give a clear sense of the incredible freedom of access that Toulouse-Lautrec enjoyed in these establishments. As well as a customer, nick-named the little Priapus, Toulouse-Lautrec was a friend and confidant to many of these women; the welcome that they extended to him, which was so important to an artist whose own appearance resulted in his feeling apart from much of the world, has flavoured his pictures, adding an intensely personal dimension. Crucially for Toulouse-Lautrec, who only painted the people who stimulated and excited and interested him, the women in the brothels were full of life. 'Models always look as if they were stuffed,' he explained. 'These women are alive. I wouldn't dare pay them to pose for me, yet God knows they're worth it. They stretch themselves out on the divans like animals... They're so lacking in pretension, you know' (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, quoted in H. Perruchot, Toulouse-Lautrec, London, 1960, p. 157). ..."
