Looking in a Mirror, from "Elles" (1896, Met-Objekt 822)
Original title: Looking in a Mirror, from "Elles"
kurzbeschreibung
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec made "In den Spiegel schauen" in 1896 as part of his "Elles" series. It shows a woman looking at herself in a mirror. The lithograph was printed in three colors and executed with crayon, brush, and spatter on wove paper. The "Elles" series is devoted to scenes from the lives of women in brothels.
Description
A woman stands in the foreground, gazing into a mirror. Her hair is pinned up, and she wears a simple dress. The room behind her looks bare; one can make out furniture and a statue on a pedestal. Light falls on the woman from the left, emphasizing her silhouette. The coloring remains mostly gray, with bright accents on her skin and at the mirror.
Context
The "Elles" series of 1896 deals with the everyday lives of prostitutes in Parisian brothels—a subject Toulouse-Lautrec knew from his own experience. The lithographs were published in an edition of 100 and aimed at a bourgeois audience that had a voyeuristic interest in this milieu. Yet the account remains sober and underscores the intimacy of the private moment.
Impact
The calm, almost introspective mood results from the reduced color palette and the restrained rendering. The asymmetrical arrangement directs the eye to the woman and her mirror, creating a pensive atmosphere. The spatter technique gives the surface a lively texture that highlights the play of light on the skin.
Technique
For this work, crayon and brush were applied to the lithographic stone, supplemented by a spatter technique in which color is sprayed on. The print was made in three colors on wove paper, allowing the grays to be nuanced in layers. The combination of fine crayon strokes and coarser speckles produces a multilayered, structured effect.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)