Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864 – 1901)
Painter, Printmaker, Illustrator
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-LautrecMonfa
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
was born on November 24,
1864 in Albi, France, the son
of a count and countess. His
parents separated and Henri
lived with his mother in Paris.
She quickly realized he had
artistic talent. Henri suffered
from several genetic problems.
His legs stopped growing
when he was about 12, so he
had an adult upper body, but
the legs of a child.
Since he was physically unable
to participate in most of the
activities of his peers, he turned
intensely to his art. In Paris, he
was drawn to the area of
Montmartre, which was a
famous haunt of artists and
writers who lived a bohemian
lifestyle. He would spend the
rest of his life there, making
friends like Vincent van Gogh.
His painting instructor
encouraged him to roam about
Paris looking for subjects to
paint.
Vincent van Gogh (1887))
When a nearby cabaret opened,
Toulouse-Lautrec was hired to
create a series of posters
advertising it. While making
posters gave him a good source of
income, other artists frowned on it
as commercial. He didn’t care.
Moulin Rouge-La Goulue (1891)
Ambassadeurs Aristide Bruant (1892)
Toulouse-Lautrec spent a lot of
time in and around the Moulin
Rouge, his paintings were of the
dancers and their patrons. There
was always a table for him at the
cabaret, and his work was
displayed on the walls.
Jane Avril Leaving the Moulin Rouge
(1892)
Self portrait in the crowd at the Moulin Rouge
(he’s on the right, seen in profile)
Jane Avril (1893)
Mary Belfort (1895)
He painted posters of the dancers
The clown Cha-U-Kao at the
Moulin Rouge (1995)
Jane Avril (1899)
During a career of less than
20 years, Toulouse-Lautrec
created 737 paintings, 275
watercolors, 262 prints and
posters, over 5000 drawings,
and some ceramics and
stained glass. He specialized
in capturing people in their
work environment, often
gaudy night life creatures
seen in an unglamorous way.
He created detailed crowd
scenes where every person
could be identified as a real
individual.
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec died at
his family’s estate in Malrome,
France on September 9, 1901.
He was 36 years old.
100 soup cans (1962)
Some question how
much of the art was
created by Warhol
himself, and how
much he had others at
the factory do. In
1961, Warhol wrote a
check to a gallery
owner for $50 as
payment for coming
up with the idea
painting soup cans.
The painting sold for
$10,000 at auction in
1971. Similar
paintings sell for over
$6 million dollars
today.
Warhol’s entire estate was left to a
foundation dedicated to the
“advancement of visual arts”. He had
so many possessions, it took 9 days to
auction it off after his death. The
auction raised more than $20 million.
Andy Warhol died in New York City
on February 22, 1987 of
complications from gall bladder
surgery.
Andy Warhol also left behind 612 “time capsules” – cardboard boxes filled with
photos, newspapers, letters, magazines, phone messages and ads for
concerts and poetry readings.