I like this Lautrec because it cleans the palate. You don't have to remember your last night out or where you are headed next weekend and if you can live up to the excitement presented in the painting even though this woman is seated at a theater. The lack of color in this piece lends this gift. Do you, as the reader here and viewer feel that you are more in control while viewing this piece (at the Met museum) or are you bored? Do you think that your own financial strength has to do with your opinion? Because, if you are more moneyed you may have more of a night life and identify more with Lautrec's colored dancing girls or cafe people even though you are used to sitting in the loge as well. Are you, as a metropolitan night owl or city visitor, relaxed by Lautrec's simple position just showing color on her flesh or intimidated by her implied confidence as a character who can maintain her posture even though her clothing and surroundings are not "realized" for lack of color?
Madame Natason or Misia Godebska has almost negligible pinched features that you can barely see, but a nice back that creates a sensuality for the viewer. If you are a perv, you can fill in the blanks with a sex Rorshach test kind of thing with the curvy elephant lines to the right of her or the man putting himself out drawing the curtains and the empty floor space. if you are not a perv, you may just focus on her back and arm and wonder what she is doing in this place that is devoid of color and why Lautrec did not finish this piece with colored paint. Her dress is billowy and grand with huge sleeves and her hair in a sensuous, but casual updo. Sociologically, this depiction of Natason indicates a level of class and her desire to please others with her looks. Her forward bend indicates her strong interest in what she is watching rather than being concerned with the man painting her or another person's more common hang-ups about peers' opinions. Supposedly, this drawing/painting was cut in half at some point and made to be two separate art pieces. It makes sense since the background looks like it belongs in some "backstage" kind of scene rather than in a scene of a theater patron's box.
I am refreshed, personally, by this drawing/painting because it allows me to think a little and is dynamic because of the juxtaposed backstage scene and seating area depiction and because of the "coloring book" implication. Mostly, though, I am drawn to Godebska's elegance and smart-ass countenance as a "former feminist" and due to my interest in personality types, theater, and psychology. For my readers -- try looking up the host of New York's Shanghai Mermaid, a villain, yet a good party planner, for a taste of snarky (but scary) good looks as well as the blood red or hot pink party colors of other Lautrecs via the exorbitantly costumed attendees at her events as well as the kinetic performers such as acrobats, fire eaters, and burlesque dancers that she employs. This art piece, by Lautrec, Madame Thadee Natason at the Theater (1895), can be found at the Met museum where, currently, another example of "crazy" that is more realized, the Commes des Garcons "fashion" exhibit, wows as well.