Reine de Joie. 1892.
Victor Joze, a Polish writer of cheap erotic novels and friend of Lautrec, published in 1892 Reine de Joie/Moeurs du Demi-Monde (Queen of Joy or The World of Easy Virtue).
It was a perfect subject for Lautrec. The Queen of Joy of the title is Alice Lamy, the central character of a book which, with its 180 pages, is little more than a short story, and tells the picaresque story of a pretty Parisian who, abandoned by her lover Charles, embarks on a career as a courtesan.
She finally "hits the jackpot" when she is "introduced to the super-rich Baron Rozenfeld...Alice enters into a purely mercenary deal with the Baron whereby he will pay her a huge monthly sum and provide her with a fabulous mansion...in exchanges her services as a mistress.
The denouement comes at a dinner party when Alice unfolds her napkin to discover the title deeds to the property, after which she kisses him, sealing their deal).
As Ebria Feinblatt notes: The poster is one of the most piquant and popular the artist has produced...Aside from the extremely realistic characterizations, the impact of the composition lies in the skillful use of pure color to model shapes, which assume an abstract quality
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