Woman Combing her Hair — Two Women Dressing Nightgowns

For the next three weeks on Sundays we will be presenting masterpieces created by the great Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. You have only until October 1st to visit the Museu de Arte de São Paulo exhibition, Toulouse-Lautrec in Red ; so if you would like to visit it you should be quick :)

If you can't afford to go to Brazil (like us) you can always open the DailyArt app each Sunday ;)

This painting shows a delicate scene inside a brothel, where one or two women calmly combs in front of the mirror. One can understand the painting as the representation of a single woman combing herself in front of the mirror (identified by the diagonal in the lower-right corner), or of two women, which is a more probable hypothesis because in the reflection one notices two different hair colors.

The picture attests to the painter’s intimacy with those women and their private lives, conveying a sense of trust and respect. Prostitution was tolerated and regulated at the time, but morally condemned by society. Critics from that time who wrote about the paintings of maisons closes praised technical or formal aspects of the works, such as “marvelous drawing” or “beautiful coloring.” They insisted, however, on expressing their disapproval of the subject. In 1893 one critic wrote that “It is unlikely that the themes [of Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting] are recommended to the ladies, but their execution is undeniably skillful.”