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TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (November 24, 1864 – September 9, 1901) was a French painter.
Biography
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrénées Region of France. From an old aristocratic family which had lost much of its prestige, he was the son of Comte Alphonse and Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec. Henri was their first child. A brother was born on August 28, 1867 but died the next year. His parents were first cousins and much inter-marriage had already taken place within the families. This was done to preserve the family wealth, but led to genetic defects as the result of inbreeding.
At age 14, Henri fractured his left thigh bone, and at 15, his right thigh bone. A genetic disorder prevented his bones from healing properly, and his legs ceased to grow. He reached maturity with a body trunk of normal size but with abnormally short legs, described by Jean Bouret as having "developed the torso of a grown man on the legs of a small boy; and his handsome face changed gradually into a thick-lipped, monstrously masculine and sensual mask covered in black stubble." He was only 1.5 m (4' 11") tall.
Unable to participate in the activities a normal body would have permitted, Toulouse-Lautrec lived for his art. He became an important post-Impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, and recorded the bohemian lifestyle of Paris at the end of the 19th century. In the mid-1890s, Toulouse-Lautrec contributed illustrations to the humorous magazine, Le Rire.
He was deemed "the soul of Montmartre", the Parisian quarter where he made his home. His paintings portray life at the Moulin Rouge and other Montmartre and Parisian cabaret and theaters, and in the brothels that he frequented (and where he perhaps contracted syphilis). Two of the well-known people he portrayed were singer Yvette Guilbert, and Louise Weber, known as the outrageous La Goulue, a dancer who created the "French Can-Can."
Toulouse-Lautrec taught painting to, and encouraged the efforts of, Suzanne Valadon, one of his models and probably his mistress. He is believed to have been contracted syphilis from her.
An alcoholic for most of his adult life, shortly before his death he entered a sanatorium.
He died from the complications of alcoholism and syphilis at the age of almost 37, at the family estate in Malromé; he is buried in Verdelais, Gironde, a few kilometres from his birthplace.
His last words when he died were "Vieil imbécile!" ("Old fool"), in reference to his father who was present.
After his 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.
Toulouse-Lautrec is said to have been a genius of an artist whose remarkable powers of observation were matched by a profound sympathy with humanity. He never exhibited any regret at his deformities. He lived life fully, made many friends, and was accepted in spite of his short stature.
Before 2005, his paintings sold for as much as $14.5 million.
Depiction in Films
Selected works
External links
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