Henri_de_toulouse-lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Birth name	Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa
Born	November 24 1864(1864-11-24) Albi, Tarn, France
Died	September 9 1901 (aged 36) Malrome, France
Nationality	French
Field	Painter, Printmaker, draftsman, illustrator
Movement	Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau
Famous works	bohemian, Earthquake (cocktail), Cognac

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (pronounced [ɑ̃ʁi dø tuluz loˈtʁɛk]) (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman, and illustrator, whose immersion in the decadent and theatrical life of fin de siècle Paris yielded an oeuvre of provocative images of modern life.

Biography

Youth

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrénées Region of France, the firstborn child of Comte Alphonse and Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec. An aristocratic family that had recently fallen on hard times, the Toulouse-Lautrecs were still feeling the effects of the inbreeding of past generations; the Comte and Comtesse were first cousins, and Henri suffered from a number of congenital health conditions attributed to this tradition of inbreeding (see below). A younger brother was born to the family on 28 August 1867, but died the following year.

Disability

At both ages 13 and 14, Henri fractured both his thigh bones. The breaks did not heal properly. Modern physicians attribute this to an unknown genetic disorder, possibly pycnodysostosis (also sometimes known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome),Angier, Natalie (June 6, 1995). What Ailed Toulouse-Lautrec? Scientists Zero In on a Key Gene. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-12-08. or a variant disorder along the lines of osteopetrosis, achondroplasia, or osteogenesis imperfecta.Noble figure. The Guardian (November 20, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-12-08. Rickets aggravated with praecox virilism has also been suggested. His legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was only 1.54 m (5 ft 1 in) tall,Why Lautrec was a giant. The Times (December 10, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-12-08. having developed an adult-sized torso, while retaining his child-sized legs, which were 0.70 m (27.5 in) long. He is also reported to have had hypertrophied genitals.Ayto, John, and Crofton, Ian, Brewer\'s Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable, page 747. Excerpted from Google Book Search. [1]

Physically unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art. He became an important Post-Impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, and recorded in his works many details of the late-19th century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec also contributed a number of illustrations to the magazine Le Rire during the mid-1890s.

La Toilette

Paris

Toulouse-Lautrec was drawn to the Montmartre, an area of Paris famous for its bohemian lifestyle and as being the haunt of artists, writers and philosophers. When the nearby Moulin Rouge caberet opened its doors, Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to produce a series of posters. Thereafter, the caberet reserved a seat for him, and displayed his paintings.Blake Linton Wilfong Hooker Heroes 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, known as the outrageous La Goulue ("The Glutton"), who created the "French Can-Can", and the much more subtle dancer Jane Avril.

Toulouse-Lautrec spent much time in brothels, where he was accepted by the prostitutes and madams to such an extent that he often moved in, and lived in a brothel for weeks at a time. He shared the lives of the women who made him their confidante, painting and drawing them at work and at leisure. He recorded their intimate relationships, which were often lesbian. A favourite model was a red-haired prostitute called Rosa la Rouge from whom he alledgedly contracted syphilis

Toulouse-Lautrec gave painting lessons to Suzanne Valadon, one of his models (and possibly his mistress as well).

An alcoholic for most of his adult life, Toulouse-Lautrec was placed in a sanatorium shortly before his death. He died from complications due to alcoholism and syphilis at the family estate in Malromé, fewer than three months before his 37th birthday. He is buried in Verdelais, Gironde, a few kilometres from his birthplace.

Toulouse-Lautrec\'s last words reportedly were: "Le vieux con!" ("Old fool!")Toulouse Lautrec: The Full Story. Channel 4. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.

Tremblement de Terre

The invention of the Tremblement de Terre is attributed to Toulouse-Lautrec, a potent mixture containing half absinthe and half cognac.Absinthe Service and Historic Cocktails. AbsintheOnline.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.

Legacy

In Bed, 1893

Throughout his career, which spanned less than 20 years, Toulouse-Lautrec created 737 canvases, 275 watercolors, 363 prints and posters, 5,084 drawings, some ceramic and stained glass work, and an unknown number of lost works. Toulouse-Lautrec is known, along with Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gaugin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period. His debt to the Impressionists, in particular the more figurative painters, Manet and Degas is apparent. In the works of Toulouse-Lautrec can be seen many parallels to Manet\'s bored barmaid at A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and the behind-the-scenes ballet dancers of Degas. He excelled at capturing people in their working environment, with the colour and the movement of the gaudy night-life present, but the glamour stripped away. He was masterly at capturing crowd scenes in which the figures are highly individualised. At the time that they were painted, the individual figures in his larger paintings could be identified by silhouette alone, and the names of many of these characters have been recorded. His treatment of his subject matter, whether as portraits, scenes of Parisian night-life, or intimate studies, has been described as both sympathetic and dispassionate.

Toulous-Lautrec\'s skilled depiction of people relied on his painterly style which is highly linear and gives great emphasis to contour. He often applied the paint in long thin brushstrokes which often leave much of the board on which they are painted showing through. Many of his works may best be described as drawings in coloured paint.

After Toulouse-Lautrec\'s death, his mother, the Comtesse Adèle Toulouse-Lautrec, and Maurice Joyant, his art dealer, promoted his art. His mother contributed funds for a museum to be built in Albi, his birthplace, to house his works. As of 2005, his paintings had sold for as much as US$14.5 million.

Movies

Toulouse-Lautrec has been the subject of biographical films:

• in the John Huston film Moulin Rouge (1952), he is portrayed by Jose Ferrer
• Lautrec (1998) is a biographical movie directed by Roger Planchonwww.imdb.com
• he is portrayed by John Leguizamo in Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Selected works

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

• Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre at the National Gallery of Art
• Website dedicated to Lautrec.
• Website about Lautrec with virtual tours.
• Factmonster page about Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de

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