The Two Friends
1894, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
On loan from Tate: Bequeathed by Montague Shearman through the Contemporary Art Society 1940, © 2000 Tate
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Throughout the 1890s Toulouse-Lautrec visited brothels in Paris and spent days observing the women there. A series of paintings on this theme culminated in 'Au Salon de la Rue des Moulins' of about 1894 (Albi, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec), which depicts the women sitting awaiting their clients.
This painting may represent an early stage in the genesis of the Albi picture, but it also belongs to a series of paintings focusing on the friendships between the women which often, as here, portrayed intimate moments or gestures of companionship or sympathy.
This painting may represent an early stage in the genesis of the Albi picture, but it also belongs to a series of paintings focusing on the friendships between the women which often, as here, portrayed intimate moments or gestures of companionship or sympathy.
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The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN