Woman in Bed—Waking, plate three from Elles

Woman in Bed—Waking, plate three from Elles, is a defining color lithograph created in 1896 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901). This seminal print, executed on ivory wove paper, was published by Gustave Pellet and likely printed by Auguste Clot. The artwork is part of the influential Elles portfolio, a groundbreaking series focusing on the unvarnished, intimate moments observed within Parisian brothels.

Toulouse-Lautrec utilizes the delicate and expressive potential of the color lithograph to capture a subtle moment of transition. The composition features a woman stretching languidly as she awakens, her back facing the viewer, emphasizing the sense of privacy and the artist’s role as a silent observer. Unlike typical sensationalized images of the period, this scene avoids overt narrative, prioritizing the formal elements of form, light, and texture achieved through the printing process.

This piece belongs to a pivotal moment in late 19th-century French art, where Toulouse-Lautrec’s sophisticated approach to creating fine art prints elevated the status of the medium dramatically. His documentation of modern life in France, often centered around the hidden spaces of Paris, challenged traditional social norms while establishing a unique visual style. As a key work from this influential portfolio, the lithograph Woman in Bed—Waking remains an important study of observation and modern domesticity. This significant historical print is currently held in the distinguished collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, providing resources for researchers interested in accessing images contributing to the public domain scholarship on the artist's lithography.