Looking in a Mirror, from the series Elles

Description

In Looking in a Mirror, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec turns a woman’s attention toward a small mirror held to the left of her standing figure. Seen partly from behind and in profile, she occupies the center while a dressing table appears lower at the side. The arrangement connects a private act of looking with the objects that support it, making an ordinary routine the scene’s principal interest.

Dated 1896, the crayon, brush and spatter lithograph was printed in three colors as part of Elles. Toulouse-Lautrec gives daily life a close pictorial presence, allowing body, mirror and furniture to establish relationships within a modest interior. The figure’s partly turned position introduces another direction of viewing, linking the observer’s gaze with her own. The print preserves one quiet design from the portfolio, where an everyday action can sustain attention through its carefully arranged setting.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec collection.