Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born on
November 24, 1864, in southern France.
Son and heir of Comte Alphonse-Charles
de Toulouse, he was the last in the line of
an aristocratic family that dated back a
thousand years. Today, the family estate
houses the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. As a
child, Henri was weak and often sick. But
by the time he was ten years old he had
begun to draw and paint.
Toulouse-Lautrec
• At age twelve Toulouse-Lautrec broke his left leg and at
fourteen his right leg. The bones did not heal properly,
and his legs ceased to grow. He reached maturity with a
body trunk of normal size but with abnormally short legs.
He was only 4 1/2 feet (1.5 meters) tall.
• Deprived of the physical life that a normal body would
have permitted, Toulouse-Lautrec lived completely for
his art. He dwelt in the Montmartre section of Paris, the
center of the cabaret entertainment and bohemian life
that he loved to depict in his work. Dance halls and
nightclubs racetracks, prostitutes - all these were
memorialized on canvas or made into lithographs.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
• Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional
lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people,
involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits, with few
permanent ties. Bohemians can be wanderers,
adventurers, or vagabonds.
• The term bohemian, of French origin, was first used in
the English language in the nineteenth century[1] to
describe the non-traditional lifestyles of marginalized and
impoverished artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and
actors in major European cities. Bohemians were
associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment
political or social viewpoints, which were often expressed
through free love, frugality, and/or voluntary poverty.
• Moulin Rouge (French for Red Windmill) is a cabaret
built in 1889. The Moulin Rouge is best known as the
spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the can-can
dance. Originally introduced as a seductive dance by the
courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can
dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its
own and led to the introduction of cabarets across
Europe. Today the Moulin Rouge is a tourist destination,
offering musical dance entertainment for adult visitors
from around the world. Much of the romance of turn-ofthe-century France is still present in the club's decor.
Toulouse-Lautrec
• 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. His debt to the Impressionists, in
particular the more figurative painters Manet and
Degas, is apparent. His style was also
influenced by the classical Japanese woodprints
which became popular in art circles in Paris.
• Toulouse-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 would
often leave much of the board (surface)
on which they are painted showing
through. Many of his works may best be
described as drawings in coloured paint.
Toulouse-Lautrec
• In order to join in the Montmartre life - as well as
to fortify himself against the crowd's ridicule of
his appearance - Toulouse-Lautrec began to
drink heavily. By the 1890s the drinking was
affecting his health. He was confined first to a
sanatorium and then to his mother's care at
home, but he could not stay away from alcohol.
Toulouse-Lautrec died on September 9, 1901, at
the family chateau of Malrome
Self-portrait in the crowd, at the
Moulin Rouge
• Portrait of Van Gogh
1887
The Bed-1893
Moulin Rouge
Poster 1891
Yvette Guilbert
1894
Woman in a Corset 1896