Rectangular magnet "Lautrec - Carmen"

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
Carmen, c. 1884 - Oil on canvas 52.9 x 40.8 cm
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark, 1951

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.