Toulouse+Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a famed 19th-century French painter and poster artist known for works like 'The Streetwalker' and 'At the Moulin Rouge.' He was born on November 24, 1864, in Albi, France. Born into aristocracy, his cousins and himself suffered related physical ailments. Both of his femurs were fractured during his teen years and his legs did not grow anymore. This contributed to his height as an adult of only 4 1/2 feet and walking with a cane. He would also endure painful toothaches and facial deformities during his life as well. He found a love of art and attended the Lycée Fontanes, a prestigious school in Paris. In 1884, Toulouse-Lautrec moved to the Montmartre section of Paris. He lived completely for his art. Montmartre was the center of the cabaret entertainment that he loved to paint and sketch. He would sit at a crowded nightclub table, laughing and drinking, making swift sketches. The next morning in his studio he would expand the sketches into brightly colored paintings. His friends included Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh and Picasso and they influenced his artwork a great deal. His portrait of Van Gogh is at The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Toulouse-Lautrec suffered a great deal due to his physical ailments. In his adult life, he turned to alcohol to deal with his pain and would ultimately drink himself into oblivion. He had a nervous breakdown in 1899 after his mother decided to leave Paris, and the artist was committed to a sanitarium for several months. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec died on September 9, 1901, at the age of 36 years old. He left behind more than 700 canvas paintings, 350 prints and posters and 5,000 drawings, among other works. He depicted life in Paris through his Moulin Rouge posters and captured the not so glamorous, everyday side of Montmartre. He was one of the first to dedicate large-scale canvases to the seedier aspects of its nightlife. He was one of the most influential artists of his time.

At the Moulin Rouge

The Streetwalker