Regulation or French System,

Prostitution series

When the French state attempts to legally regulate the world's oldest profession.

Grasping the intricacies of the organisation of the French prostitution system between 1850 and 1900 enriches our understanding of genre paintings by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Béraud and Nittis. At the time, the entire system — with its specialised establishments, hospitals, registration procedures, prisons and police — was largely devoted to controlling the spread of syphilis, a deadly disease that affected many French artists and writers.