Toulouse-Lautrec and Queer Montmatre

Video (39:33): ‘Toulouse-Lautrec and Queer Montmatre’ is a rich presentation of Toulouse-Lautrec’s lesbian models and other queer women in Montmatre during La Belle Époque by Maria Norrman.

Maria Norrman explains: ‘In this lecture I present some of Toulouse-Lautrecs (1864-1901) art which depict love between women, as well as his works depicting queer historic persons connected to his chosen home: Montmartre, Paris.

I also present some of his contemporaries who’ve depicted lesbians and same sex affections between women, like Picasso, Forain and Kees van Dongen.

In the last part of the lecture I present some of the most well known lesbian and bisexual women from the late La Belle Epoque era (1900-1914).

Persons mentioned: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, La Goulue, Colette, Natalie Clifford Barney, Mathilde “Missy” de Morny, Andrée Philipp (Suzanne Beaugé
(Baugé), Madame Armande, Palmire of La Souris (Palmire Louise Dumont), Liane de Pougy, Sarah Bernhardt, May Milton, Mireille, Oscar Wilde, Renée Vivien, Madame Sappho (Marte Barnede), Emilienne d’Alencon, Sappho, Bouboule (the bulldog), Emma Said Ben Mohammed, Yvette Guilbert, Gabrielle (the dancer), Cha-U-Kao, Gab Sorere, Môme Fromage (André Helleng) madam Baron and her daughter Paulette, Marcelle, Rolande, Lucie Bellanger, Mlle Pois-Vert, Elsa la Viennoise, Mairie-Victoire Denis, Mlle Fontane, Louise Abbéma, Maurice Donnay, Paul Adam, Felix Feneon, Ricard Opisso, Pablo Picasso, Joseph Granie, Jean-Louis Forain, Willette, Henrik Cavling, Tony Minarz, Kees van Dongen, Gustav-Adolf Mossa, Tadeusz Styka.’ – Read more on Youtube.

[The copyright of the video above remains with the original holder and it is used here for the purpose of education, comparison and criticism only.]

Maria Norrman

Maria Norrman earned her MFA from Malmö Konsthögskola, Sweden, 2013. She is a visual artist who works with video and photography in combination with performance and costume making. Norrman often uses herself and different characters in her work which allows her to put her appearance and gender expressions in relation to the participants. The works explore the meeting between hers and other people’s fantasies and topics such as war history, gender and sexuality. Her methods often consist of different types of role play, where body, clothing and identities are central starting points.