Elles: Woman at the Tub

Elles: Woman at the Tub by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a masterful example of the color lithograph technique, created in 1896. This print is a key component of the artist’s seminal portfolio, Elles, a remarkable series of ten images that focused on the private lives of women working in Parisian brothels.

The classification as a print allowed Toulouse-Lautrec to experiment with bold compositions and saturated color fields, solidifying his reputation as a leading graphic artist of his generation. He utilized the demanding color lithograph process to capture the intimate vulnerability of the subject, employing a high-angle perspective and a tightly cropped frame. This compositional strategy, which places the viewer directly above the woman, reflects the influence of Japanese woodblock prints that were highly fashionable in 19th-century France.

Produced during the Belle Époque, the Elles series challenged the moral and social conventions of the period by granting a sense of dignity and realism to marginalized figures. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Toulouse-Lautrec sought to portray the lived experience of these working women, treating them with frank observation rather than sentimentality or caricature. This work embodies the artist's commitment to documenting the gritty, unvarnished atmosphere of late 19th-century Paris. This significant print is held in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, representing Toulouse-Lautrec’s enduring contribution to modern graphic arts and the development of the poster aesthetic.