Toulouse-Lautrec part 1

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Just a note here to say thank you to anyone that follows this blog as it recently passed a quarter of a million hits. Often frustrated trying to find dates or titles of artist's work on the net, what I endeavor to do in my blog is post a cross-section of an artist's work in chronological order, dated and titled wherever possible. I think it gives a better sense of how the artist's career developed.

After my recent four-part look at the work of Pierre Bonnard, I thought I'd do a similar exercise with the works of Toulouse-Lautrec - parts 1 & 2 paintings, part 3 lithographs, part 4 graphic works.

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa or simply Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 � 1901) was a French painter, printmaker and illustrator, whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of fin de si�cle Paris yielded an �uvre of exciting and provocative images of the modern, and sometimes decadent life of those times. Toulouse-Lautrec is known along with C�zanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period. In a 2005 auction at Christie's auction house a new record was set when "La blanchisseuse", an early painting of a young laundress, sold for $22.4 million.

Toulouse-Lautrec was a direct descendant of an aristocratic family, born in 1864 at Albi, France. His wild and colourful father lived in moderate luxury, hunting with falcons and collecting exotic weapons. Henri began to draw at an early age and found the arts an escape from his loving but over-protective family.

In 1878 Toulouse-Lautrec suffered a fall and broke one femur. A year later he fell again and broke the other one � his legs didn�t heal properly. His torso developed normally, but his legs stopped growing and were permanently deformed.

1889 La Blanchisseuse oil on canvas

In 1882, encouraged by his first teachers � the animal painters Ren� Princeteau and John Lewis Brown � Toulouse-Lautrec decided to devote himself to painting, and that year he left for Paris. Enrolling at the �cole des Beaux-Arts, he entered the studio of Fernand Cormon. In 1884 he settled in Montmartre in north Paris, where he stayed from then on, except for short visits to Spain, where he admired the works of El Greco and Diego Vel�zquez.

In England he visited celebrated writer Oscar Wilde and painter James McNeill Whistler. At one point Toulouse-Lautrec lived near painter Edgar Degas (1834�1917), whom he valued above all other contemporary artists and by whom he was influenced. From 1887 his studio was on the rue Caulaincourt next to the Goupil printshop, where he could see examples of the Japanese prints of which he was so fond.

By habit Toulouse-Lautrec stayed out most of the night. He frequented many entertainment spots in Montmartre, especially the Moulin Rouge. He moved freely among the dancers, the prostitutes, the artists, and the intellectuals of Montmartre. From 1890 on his tall, lean cousin, Dr. Tapi� de Celeyran, accompanied him, and the two, depicted in "At the Moulin Rouge" (1892), made a colourful pair. Despite his deformity, Toulouse-Lautrec was extremely social and readily made friends.

1892 At the Moulin Rouge oil on canvas

Among his favorite subjects were the cabaret dancers Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril, and La Goulue and her partner, Valentin le D�soss�, the contortionist. Through the seriousness of his intention, Toulouse-Lautrec depicted his subjects in a style bordering on, but rising above, caricature.

Unusual types performing in a grand show attracted Toulouse-Lautrec. In his painting "In the Circus Fernando: The Ringmaster" (1888) the nearly grotesque, strangely cruel figure of the ringmaster is the center around which the horse and bareback rider must revolve. From 1892 to 1894 Toulouse-Lautrec produced a series of interiors of brothels, where he actually lived for a while and became the companion of the women.

1888 At the Cirque Fernando, The Ringmaster oil on cnavas

As with his paintings of cabarets, he caught the feel of the brothels and made no attempt to glamorize them. In the "Salon in the Rue des Moulins" (1894) the prostitutes are shown as ugly and bored beneath their makeup; the madam sits quietly in their midst. He neither sensationalised nor drew a moral lesson but presented a certain interpretation of this side of society for what it was � no more and no less.

Eventually alcoholism and his loose lifestyle caught up with Toulouse-Lautrec and he suffered a breakdown in 1899. His mother had him committed to an asylum at Neuilly, France. He recovered and set to work again, but not for very long. He died in 1901 at the family estate at Malrom�, France.