May Belfort

Toulouse-Lautrec found May Belfort performing at Les Décadents in 1895 and she became one of his regular subjects almost immediately. She is in the ruffled dress and bonnet that were her stage signature.

The act: she sang in a deliberately babyish voice and stood completely still while the audience shouted the words back at her. He painted, drew and lithographed her repeatedly in the year that followed.