henri de toulouse- lautrec

 Ballerina- the first tutu

     In the first tutu, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec  shows ofcourse a ballerina in what appears to be a dance studio. The girl is probablly in  her teens, she is dressed in the ideal leatard, tights, ballet slippers, and tutu. When you think of a ballerina words like happy, excited, joyous however the ballerina in this painting is not embodying any of these characteristics. She is very solemn. People who dance in general are expected to have confidence so I believe thatToulouse-Lautrec portrays the ballerina like this to show that everyone has insecurities, people who are beautiful, rich,and successful in actuality they are just like you and I. The confidence they show on the outside may just merely be an act to cover up how they feel inside. In this painting the ballerina is showed all alone in her dance studio examining her stomach in her new tights. It's her first tutu so understandably she is a little self conscious about the way she looks. It's no different than when we get our hair cut and we're constantly seeking other people's apporval to assure us that it's ok. This work appeals to women of any age because we all have struggled with self esteem issues and in some way can relate to what she is feeling. I thinkToulouse-Lautrec probablly supports the belief that women are constantly uncertain about their appearance because he could of easily showed the ballerina how we all envisioned her to be. He believes that even though we are all separate beings, at the end of the day alot of us are dealing with the same issues.