Carmen Gaudin

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

National Gallery of Art

Shown from the waist up, a woman with light, peachy-yellow skin sits with her body facing us as she looks over her shoulder to our right in this loosely painted, vertical portrait. Her face is in profile and her carnation-pink and tangerine-orange hair is pulled into a bun at the base of her head. Fluffy bangs are parted over her forehead and obscure her eyes. Her snub nose is reddened, and her pink lips are pursed. She wears a long sleeved, tight fitting, black blouse with bright orange trim along one side of the shallow, V-shaped neckline. Her hands rest in her lap, one in front of the other. The hand and forearm we can see is nickel gray. The light shines from our right, casting the back of her head into shadow. The background is honey orange and plum purple, with forms suggesting forest-green leaves. The left and right edges of the painting are bordered in coffee-brown paint brushed or scraped over pecan-brown paint. Brushstrokes are visible throughout.