Woman before a Mirror
Medium
Oil on cardboard
Dimensions
24 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (62.2 x 47 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
Accession Number
2003.20.15
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec *Woman before a Mirror*1897) captures the intimate, unflinching gaze of Parisian demimonde life during the Belle Époque. in oil on cardboard—a medium the artist favored for its portability and spontaneity—this intimate work (24½ × 18½ in.) depicts a nude, likely a prostitute, contemplating her reflection. Toulouse-Lautrec, a Post-Impressionist master known for chronicling Montmartre's cabarets and brothels, drew from his frequent visits to these worlds, blending empathy with raw observation. The painting's significance lies in its bold exploration of female vulnerabi...
About the Artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1864–1901
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (1864-1901) was a French Post-Impressionist painter, printmaker, and illustrator whose innovative poster designs revolutionized graphic art and advertising in late 19th-century Paris. Born into an aristocratic family at Albi in southern France, Toulouse-Lautrec's privileged lineage traced back to the Counts of Toulouse and extended uninterrupted to th...