Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

(France, 1864-1901)

“Everywhere and always, ugliness has its beautiful aspects; it is thrilling to discover them where nobody else has noticed them.”
— Toulouse-Lautrec

Iconic portrayer of the Belle Époque Montmartre, leading figure of Post-Impressionism and technical pioneer, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s instinctive grasp of celebrity and blurring of commercial and fine art prefigures the Pop Art movement by over 60 years, and the work of Andy Warhol in particular. Toulouse-Lautrec was the first and most successful artist to utilize prints and poster to create “fine art,” and they are where his innovations are perhaps most striking. One of Lautrec’s most notable technical creations, a splattered ink technique called crachis, creates mists of color similar to airbrushing and dazzlingly heightens the hazy and glittering sense of atmosphere in his depictions of Paris life. He used the latest color lithography techniques and pushed the envelope on larger and bolder prints with more nuanced colors and textures, placing him at the forefront of modern printmaking.

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrenees region of France, the firstborn of Comte Alphonse and Comtesse Adele de Toulouse-Lautrec. Descendants of the Counts of Toulouse, they were an aristocratic family that had recently fallen on hard times. The Toulouse-Lautrecs were feeling the effects of the inbreeding of past generations; the Comte and Comtesse themselves were first cousins, and Henri suffered from a number of congenital health conditions attributed to this tradition of inbreeding. A second boy was born to the family when Henri was three, but died the following year. At the age of 13, Henri fractured his left thighbone, at 14, the right, and the breaks did not heal properly. Modern physicians attribute this to a genetic disorder, possibly pycnodysostosis, also sometimes known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome, or a variant disorder. Rickets aggravated with praecox virilism has also been suggested. His legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was 5’1”, with an adult-sized torso, but 27.5” long, child-sized legs, and walked with a cane. Unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art, transferring his thirst for physical activity into his visual expression.

As a young artist, Lautrec studied under the academic painters Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon, two of the great painters of their time. Bonnat’s studio was located in the Montmartre district of Paris and introduced Lautrec to the vibrant bohemian neighborhood where he would live and work for the bulk of his career. Cormon, less strict in his instruction than Bonnat, encouraged his students to explore their surroundings in search of artistic subjects, and Lautrec began painting café and brothel life. With low rents and a vibrant nightlife scene, Montmartre was an avant-garde hub, the haunt of artists, writers, and philosophers. Lautrec frequented the neighborhood’s cafés, cabarets, and brothels like a social butterfly. The nearby Moulin Rouge cabaret opened, and the business commissioned Toulouse-Lautrec to produce a series of posters. After that, the famous nightclub regularly reserved a seat for him and displayed his paintings. His oeuvre portrays a diverse cross-section of the district’s population, from dancers and prostitutes to aristocrats and intellectuals. He was masterful at capturing crowd scenes with highly individualized figures that were, at the time, identifiable by silhouette alone, and the names of many are recorded. Lautrec developed lifelong friendships with fellow Post-Impressionists Vincent van Gogh and Émile Bernard, and the work of Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Japanese woodblock painting also influenced him. The simplicity of form used in woodblock prints can be seen in Lautrec’s favoring of sharp outlines, bright colors, and pictorial flatness, as can parallels to Manet's bored barmaid at the Folies-Bergere and the behind-the-scenes ballet dancers of Degas.

Toulouse-Lautrec spent much of his time in brothels, where the prostitutes and madams accepted him 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 confidant, painting and drawing them at work and at leisure. Lautrec recorded their intimate relationships, which were often lesbian. A favorite model was a red-haired prostitute called Rosa la Rouge from whom he allegedly contracted syphilis. 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 Malrome, shortly before his 37th birthday.

An important Post-Impressionist painter, iconic Art Nouveau illustrator, and innovative lithographer, Toulouse-Lautrec recorded many details of the late nineteenth century bohemian Parisian lifestyle in his work. He treats his subject matter both sympathetically and dispassionately, whether in portraits, scenes of Parisian nightlife, or intimate studies. Many of his posters and prints could be described as drawings in colored paint - the style is highly linear and gives great emphasis to contour - while his paintings are naturalistic and painterly. Throughout his career of 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. After Toulouse-Lautrec's death, his mother and his art dealer promoted his art, and his mother contributed funds to build a museum housing his works in Albi, his birthplace. His work continues to be desirable and sell for high prices; his painting The Laundress notably sold for $22.4 million in 2005. Toulouse-Lautrec, along with Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, was one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period. His oeuvre is a pillar of modernism, heavily inspiring and influencing a diverse array of would-be leading artists including Pablo Picasso, Alphonse Mucha, and Andy Warhol.

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