When Toulouse-Lautrec first spotted Carmen Gaudin in Montmartre, he exclaimed to a friend, "How tough she looks! It would be marvelous to get her as a model." Gaudin consented, and Toulouse-Lautrec painted her on a number of occasions over several years. In this portrait, her expression is guarded, but her fiery hair and uncompromising frontal pose suggest something of the toughness that initially captured the artist's imagination.
Credit: Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
c. 1884
Oil on canvas
20.8 x 16.1in
1955.525
Image and text: The Clark Art Institute, 2024
Where you'll find this
The Clark
Permanent collection