Mariette Lydis portrays a woman in casual repose, resting on her elbows with her head in her hand and an expression that could be construed as wry or seductive, depending on the mood of the viewer. This may have been a friend or a lover, as Lydis portrayed each with a sensuality that challenged the early 20th century’s views on the role of women.
Lydis was a consummate devotee of the arts, supporting friends and lovers alike in their pursuit of visual, performance, or written works that pushed the boundaries of social norms. Her own work often explored themes of female individuality, sexuality, and persecution. Here, Lydis manages a rare feat for the times’ normative social structures: a portrait of a nude woman as seen not through the eyes of a man but through the eyes of a woman, rendering the viewer unable to categorize with certainty the meaning of the composition.
In 1928 G. Govane published an illustrated version of Charles Baudelaire's famous "Les Fleurs du Mal (the Flowers of Evil)" --a series of Symbolist poems regarding decadence and eroticism in French modernity--with hand-colored lithographs by Lydis. However, as this impression features full sheet margins with no sign of being once bound or tipped-in, we wonder if perhaps there was a separate portfolio published apart from the book.