Easy Virtue

Prostitution was a favourite subject in visual art during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Artists obsessively portrayed prostitution as an aspect of modern city life in Paris, and painted prostitutes on the grand boulevards, rich courtesans in their parlours and less fortunate prostitutes on the street. Easy Virtue shows what attracted artists to this provoking, yet complex and sensitive subject. Featuring work from amongst others Manet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Van Gogh, supplemented by intriguing and curious objects like the original bed from a courtesan and nineteenth century police registers with photographs of convicted prostitutes.