2-732-091 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

In the Salon, c. 1880s. Just as Degas's illustrations for La Famille Cardinal revealed what went on behind the scenes at the Opéra, a series of monotypes depicting Parisian brothels offered a never-before-seen view of a hidden aspect of bourgeois life. Degas's interest in the subject paralleled the theme of the prostitute in naturalist novels of the era by Emile Zola and Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, and echoed the then-contemporary debate about the regulation-or abolition-of prostitution in Paris. The bodies of Degas's prostitutes-heavy, coarse, graceless-emblematized the bourgeoisie's fears of female sexuality and the mingling of social classes. Here, three women-more menacing than inviting-await their clients under a luminous globed chandelier. A standing figure reaches out her left arm as if to beckon an unseen visitor.