Henri Toulouse Lautrec

"Deux Femmes" Color Lithograph from "Elles" by Henri Toulouse Lautrec

1896

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (November 1864 –September 1901), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colorful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 19th century allowed him to produce a collection of enticing, elegant, and provocative images of the modern, sometimes decadent, affairs of those times. Toulouse-Lautrec is among the best-known painters of the Post-Impressionist period, with Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin. His figurative work was influenced by that of the Impressionists with the linear and curvature figures and the ‘behind the scenes” poses reminiscent of Degas. He often depicted his characters in silhouette influenced by Japanese woodcuts. Toulouse-Lautrec's parents, the Comte and Comtesse, were first cousins (his grandmothers were sisters), and his congenital health conditions were attributed to a family history of inbreeding. At the age of 13, Toulouse-Lautrec fractured his right femur, and at 14, he fractured his left femur.] The breaks did not heal properly. Modern physicians attribute this to an unknown genetic disorder, possibly pycnodysostosis (sometimes known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome). Afterward, his legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was extremely short (1.42 m or 4 ft 8 in). He developed an adult-sized torso while retaining his child-sized legs. Physically unable to participate in many activities enjoyed by boys his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in art. He became a prominent Post-Impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, and, through his works, recorded many details of the late-19th-century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. His lithographic posters created for the infamous Moulin Rouge are renowned. When the Moulin Rouge cabaret opened in 1889,[20] Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to produce a series of posters. His mother had left Paris and, though he had a regular income from his family, making posters offered him a living of his own. Other artists looked down on the work, but he ignored them.[28] The cabaret reserved a seat for him and displayed his paintings.[29] Among the well-known works that he painted for the Moulin Rouge and other Parisian nightclubs are depictions of the singer Yvette Guilbert; the dancer Louise Weber, better known as La Goulue (The Glutton) who created the French can-can; and the much subtler dancer Jane Avril. Toulouse-Lautrec contributed several illustrations to the magazine Le Rire during the mid-1890s. He died at the age of 36 from complications related to his alcoholism and syphilis.