Henri de TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
artist
France 1864 – 1901
Edmond de GONCOURT
author
France 1822 – 1896
G. Charpentier, Editeur, Paris publisher
Pages 10 La fille Elisa 1896 watercolour and crayon on paper19.0 (h) x 12.0 (w) cm
Reference: Dortu A.239 Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Lautrec admired Edmond de Goncourt’s 1877 novel, La fille Elisa. Learning that it was to be republished, he offered himself as an illustrator. When de Goncourt rejected this proposal, Lautrec illustrated his own copy of the novel. Lautrec’s drawings follow the tragic story of Elisa – a prostitute, who falls in love with a solider, whom she kills after he tries to rape her. Lautrec depicts the claustrophobic life of a courtesan and evokes the terror of Elisa as she is brought before the judicial system.
Lautrec admired Edmond de Goncourt’s 1877 novel, La fille Elisa. Learning that it was to be republished, he offered himself as an illustrator. When de Goncourt rejected this proposal, Lautrec illustrated his own copy of the novel. Lautrec’s drawings follow the tragic story of Elisa – a prostitute, who falls in love with a solider, whom she kills after he tries to rape her. Lautrec depicts the claustrophobic life of a courtesan and evokes the terror of Elisa as she is brought before the judicial system.
Lautrec admired Edmond de Goncourt’s 1877 novel, La fille Elisa. Learning that it was to be republished, he offered himself as an illustrator. When de Goncourt rejected this proposal, Lautrec illustrated his own copy of the novel. Lautrec’s drawings follow the tragic story of Elisa – a prostitute, who falls in love with a solider, whom she kills after he tries to rape her. Lautrec depicts the claustrophobic life of a courtesan and evokes the terror of Elisa as she is brought before the judicial system.
