Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901), Queen of Joy (Reine de joie), 1892. Color lithograph, 56 1/4 × 37 1/4 in. (142.88 × 94.62 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley. M1977.46.
Poster for the novel Reine de Joie: Mœurs du Demi-Monde (Queen of Joy: Customs of the Demi-Monde) by Victor Joze
This poster caused quite a scandal in Paris. It depicts a moment in the novel when the heroine, the courtesan Hélène Roland, kisses her fleshy patron after he has presented her with a gift. Lautrec successfully translated the decadent, immoral atmosphere of the novel to the poster, and Baron Rothschild, who believed the unflattering fictional character Baron Rosenfeld was modeled on himself, tried in vain to suppress the book and the poster.
Written by Mary Weaver Chapin, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings.
