With the rise of French Impressionism came a revolutionary new way of depicting prostitution. Gone were the mysterious and romanticized girls once these painters discovered the reality inside 19th-century brothels.
The French Impressionism movement was groundbreaking in many ways. It challenged academic standards put in place by the high-class Parisian salon. It set the foundation for the development of later art movements such as Cubism and Surrealism. Most importantly, it destroyed the assumption that only perfect, ideological images could be considered art.
Rather than depicting nymphs and goddesses from mythology or idealized figures of exotic women lounging in a Turkish bath, the Impressionists went into the streets and painted the real world, shattering the illusion of perfection for something more genuine and raw. They drew these women without prejudice. Rather, there is an element of curiosity that comes with these male artists exploring a feminine world largely unknown to them. Read on to discover what really went on in 19th-century brothels through an analysis of 4 French paintings.
The sex work business boomed, especially during the second half of the 19th century. During this time, prostitution was legal and regulated in France, a law very fitting for the country of love, where every noble had his courtesan and every man his mistress. However, this did not eliminate the illegal and unregulated prostitution industry that was also quite prevalent in the streets of major French cities. With the popularization of the prostitution industry came many artists of French Impressionism hoping to get a peek inside these 19th-century brothels.
They wanted to paint this mysterious world and get to know the women in it. Depictions of prostitutes were often romanticized, and the lifestyles of those women on the moral fringes of society fascinated many.
