Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Painting Rousse in Elementary Episode The Woman

Summary: Irene Adler keeps the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse as reproduction or restoration in the Elementary Series Episode The Woman May 16, 2013.

Rousse (1889 oil on cardboard) by French post-Impressionist painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (November 24, 1864-September 9, 1901), Musée d'Orsay, seventh arrondissement (7e arrondissement de Paris): Olivier Duquesne (DaffyDake), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse appears diagonally from the Bruegel painted parable The Blind Leading the Blind in The Woman episode of the Columbia Broadcasting System series Elementary May 16, 2013.

That the Pieter Bruegel painted parable The Blind Leading the Blind bears the gouges from "shelling during the Great War" baffles Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller). Sherlock considers, "Hard to see you, a restorer by trade, would recreate the gouges" from World War I (July 28, 1914-Nov. 11, 1918) "in the canvas."

Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) deems diversion a decorous part of valor and declares," The museum director wanted to file down the paint where the gouges were." She explains to Sherlock, "I told him that that would compromise what the artist intended, but he didn't see it my way, so I preserved it."

Sherlock fathoms that "other paintings are preserved as well" and formulates that "I appreciate your efforts to keep the vulgarities of the modern era at bay."

Sherlock's gauging that "I'll tell you which of the paintings are reproductions and which of them are counts of felonious theft" gives no answers to viewers. The fact that Irene handles its "very very particular palette" hints of the Peter Paul Rubens painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas as restoration, not reproduction. It indicates nothing about the 67- by 54-centimeter (26.38- by 21.26-inch) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse from 1889 as original oil on cardboard, reproduction or restoration.

In the brick-and-mortar world outside the facts and fiction on television series the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse joins other original art in the Musée d'Orsay.

The Paris museum on the left bank of the Seine River keeps an online catalogue entry for Rousse dit aussi La Toilette ("Redhead also called Toilet").

Wicker chairs let the entry locate the bare-backed redhead lingering over clean-up, coiffure, dress and make-up rituals at her painter's wooden floor-boarded studio at 27 rue Caulaincourt. The Masterpieces from Paris exhibition book Dec. 4, 2009-April 18, 2010, at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra mentions Carmen Gaudin (1866?-1920) as the model. Claire and José Frèches, curators and Toulouse-Lautrec historians, noted Gaudin's careers as "extremely punctual" model, Mirliton cabaret singer Rosa la Rouge and "quiet, sickly, working-class girl."

National Gallery of Australia curator Jane Kinsman offers the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse as occurring at 7 rue Tourlaque because of a photo from 1889-1890.

The Musée d'Orsay entry posits a 1889 painting date, from a Rousse painting at Les XX ("The Twenty") exhibition Jan. 18-Feb. 23, 1890, in Brussels, Belgium. Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853-July 29, 1890) queued up his only known sale, The Red Vineyard to Anna Boch (Feb. 10, 1848-Feb. 25, 1936), there.

Toulouse-Lautrec (Nov. 24, 1864-Sep. 9, 1901) realized a 57- by 46-centimeter (22.44- by 18.11-inch) colored chalk on cardboard portrait of van Gogh in Paris in 1887. Sherlock suffers the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse in Irene's studio whereas, in The Leviathan, he saves the stolen van Gogh Pietà from Peter Kent's stash.

Perhaps Carmen's back tells whether Irene tethers the reproduced or restored Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painting Rousse, just as Irene's tracks her Moriarty persona in The Heroine.

After reuniting with Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) at the end of Risk Management (season 1 episode 22), Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) flashbacks, in The Woman (season 1, episode 23), to their first meeting, at Irene's studio adorned with art originals, including Toulouse-Lautrec's Rousse, and forgeries: Irene, still painting during her alleged captivity, at the end of Risk Management: Marco G. @marcogangini, via Twitter May 14, 2013

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

French post-Impressionist painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's Rousse (1889 oil on cardboard) numbers among fictitiously stolen art work that Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) notes in Irene Adler's (Natalie Dormer) studio in Elementary tv series' The Woman (season 1 episode 23); in real life, Musée d'Orsay in Paris's 7e arrondissement de Paris (7th arrondissement, Paris, France) claims ownership of Toulouse-Lautrec's Rousse: Olivier Duquesne (DaffyDake), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/daffyduke/3402893626/

After reuniting with Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) at the end of Risk Management (season 1 episode 22), Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) flashbacks, in The Woman (season 1, episode 23), to their first meeting, at Irene's studio adorned with art originals, including Toulouse-Lautrec's Rousse, and forgeries: Irene, still painting during her alleged captivity, at the end of Risk Management: Marco G. @marcogangini, via Twitter May 14, 2013, @ https://twitter.com/marcogangini/status/334288651506819073

For further information:

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London England: George Newnes Ltd., 1892.

Frèches, Claire and José. 1991. "Toulouse-Lautrec: Scenes of the Night." Translated from the French by Alexandra Campbell. Discoveries Series. New York NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

"Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Rousse." Musée d'Orsay > English > Collections > Works in Focus > Commentaire.
Available @ http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/rousse-8858.html?no_cache=1

Kinsman, Jane. 2009. "Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne & Beyond." National Gallery of Australia > Explore > Collections > European + American Art > Overview > Related Exhibitions.
Available @ https://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/MASTERPIECESfromPARIS/Default.cfm?IRN=191263&BioArtistIRN=16815&MnuID=SRCH&ArtistIRN=16815&ViewID=2

Marco G. ‏@marcogangini. 14 May 2013. "Irene Adler! . . . .#Elementary." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/marcogangini/status/334288651506819073

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-bruegel-painted-parable-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/russian-tortoise-natural-history.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/paul-cezanne-still-life-painting-fruit.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/paul-signac-painting-women-at-well-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/edward-hopper-painting-western-motel-in.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-lesser-clovers-sherlocks-lucky.html

"Vincent van Gogh: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Paris, 1887." Van Gogh Museum > English > Collection > Search the Collection.
Available @ https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/d0693V1962

"The Woman." Elementary: The First Season. Los Angeles CA: Paramount Pictures Corporation, May 16, 2013.