Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) depicted Montmartre's night life of cafés, bars, and brothels, the world which he inhabited at the height of his career.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a direct descendant of the counts of Toulouse, was born on Nov. 24, 1864, at Albi. His eccentric father lived in provincial luxury, hunting with falcons and collecting exotic weapons. Henri began to draw at an early age. He suffered a fall in 1878 and broke one femur; in 1879 he fell again and broke the other one. His legs did not heal properly; his torso developed normally, but his legs were permanently deformed.

Encouraged by his first teachers, the animal painters René Princeteau and John Lewis Brown, Toulouse-Lautrec decided in 1882 to devote himself to painting, and that year he left for Paris. Enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts, he entered the studio of Fernand Cormon. In 1884 Toulouse-Lautrec settled in Montmartre, where he stayed from then on, except for short visits to Spain, where he admired the works of El Greco and Diego Velázquez; Belgium; and England, where he visited Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. At one point Toulouse-Lautrec lived near Edgar Degas, 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.

Toulouse-Lautrec habitually stayed out most of the night, frequenting the many entertainment spots about Montmartre, especially the Moulin Rouge cabaret, and he drank a great deal. His loose living caught up with him: he suffered a breakdown in 1899, and his mother had him committed to an asylum at Neuilly. He recovered and set to work again. He died on Sept. 9, 1901, at the family estate at Malromé.

Parisian Demimonde

Toulouse-Lautrec moved freely among the dancers, prostitutes, artists, and intellectuals of Montmartre. From 1890 on, his tall, lean cousin, Dr. Tapié de Celeyran, accompanied him, and the two, depicted in At the Moulin Rouge (1892), made a colorful pair. Despite his deformity, Toulouse-Lautrec was an extrovert who readily made friends and inspired trust. He came to be regarded as one of the people of Montmartre, for he was an outsider like them, fiercely independent, but with great ability and intellect.

Among the painter's favorite subjects were the cabaret dancers Yvette Guilbert, Jane Avril, and La Goulue and her partner, the contortionist Valentin le Désossé. Toulouse-Lautrec depicted his subjects in a style bordering on but rising above caricature through the seriousness of his intention. He took subjects who habitually employed disguise and charade as a way of life and stripped away all that was inessential to reveal each as an individual and yet as a prisoner of his destiny.

The two most direct influences on Toulouse-Lautrec's art were the Japanese print, as seen in his oblique viewpoints and flattened forms, and Degas, from whom he derived the tilted perspective, cutting of figures, and use of a railing to separate the spectator from the painted scene, as in At the Moulin Rouge. But the authentic feel of a world of depravity and the strident, artificial colors used to create it were Toulouse-Lautrec's own.

Unusual types performing in a grand, contrived spectacle attracted Toulouse-Lautrec. In his painting In the Circus Fernando: The Ringmaster (1888) the nearly grotesque, strangely cruel figure of the ringmaster is the pivot around which the horse and bareback rider must revolve. In 1892-1894 Toulouse-Lautrec did a series of interiors of houses of prostitution, where he actually lived for a while, becoming the confidant and companion of the girls. 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 madame sits demurely in their midst. He neither sensationalized nor drew a moral lesson but presented a certain facet of the periphery of society for what it was—no more and no less.

Color Lithography and the Poster

Toulouse-Lautrec broadened the range of lithography by treating the tone more freely. His stroke became more summary and the planes more unified. Sometimes the ink was speckled on the surface to bring about a great textural richness. In his posters he combined flat images (again the influence of the Japanese print) with type. He realized that if the posters were to be successful their message had to make an immediate and forceful impact on the passerby, and he designed them with that in mind.

Toulouse-Lautrec's posters of the 1890s establish him as the father of the modern large-scale poster. His best posters were those advertising the appearance of various performers at the Montmartre cabarets, such as the singer May Belfort, the female clown Cha-U-Kao, and Loïe Fuller of the Folies-Bergère.

In a poster of 1893 the dancer Jane Avril, colored partially in bright red and yellow, is pictured kicking her leg. Below her, in gray tones so as not to detract attention, is the diagonally placed hand of the violinist playing his instrument. There is some indication of floorboards but no furniture or other figures. The legend reads simply "Jane Avril" in white letters and "Jardin de Paris" in black letters.

Further Reading

The best books on Toulouse-Lautrec are Gerstle Mack, Toulouse-Lautrec (1938), especially rich in describing Toulouse-Lautrec's demimonde associations, and Douglas Cooper, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1956). See also Philippe Huisman and M. G. Dorty, Lautrec by Lautrec (1964). A major work on the prints is Jean Adhémar, Toulouse-Lautrec: His Complete Lithographs and Drypoints (trans. 1965). □

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (b Albi, 24 Nov. 1864; d Château de Malromé, nr. Toulouse, 9 Sept. 1901). French painter, printmaker, and draughtsman, one of the most colourful figures in 19th-century art. The son of an outrageously eccentric nobleman, he grew up with a love of horses and sport, but as a result of inherited illness and two falls when he was in his early teens the bones in his legs atrophied and he became permanently stunted. (Accounts of his height vary, but he was certainly not the midget of popular imagination. He was about 5 ft tall—above the minimum height for military service—but his head looked disproportionately large and he walked with difficulty. Lautrec was stoical about his condition, never mentioning it except in jest; it did not prevent him from attracting women as beautiful as Suzanne Valadon, and his courage in coming to terms with it helped to give him a hatred of any kind of pretence—a quality that emerges in the frankness of his art.)

Lautrec showed an early talent for drawing (his father and uncle were amateur artists) and in 1882 he began to study with Bonnat. The following year he became a pupil of Cormon, and in January 1884, aged 19, he was given an allowance and set up in a studio of his own in the Montmartre district of Paris, an area notorious for bohemianism and seedily glamorous nightlife. Almost all his work is taken from this world and his scenes of cafés, brothels, and nightclubs (notably the Moulin Rouge) have helped to create the popular image of fin de siècle Paris. He led a notoriously dissipated life, but he was always a dedicated professional artist, and it was a matter of pride that he kept his earnings in a separate bank account from his parental allowance (his work sold well, but he was constantly short of money because he was so extravagant). Even after a hard night's drinking he would arrive early at the printing workshop to supervise the production of his lithographs, and his output was very large considering his brief life.

Lautrec received a solid, traditional training with Bonnat and Cormon (two of the most renowned teachers of the day), and although his work often gives a wonderful feeling of spontaneity, it was in fact based on constant application as a draughtsman. In this he resembles Degas, who was the Impressionist he admired most. It was partly from him and partly from Japanese prints (see Ukiyo-e) that Lautrec derived his striking use of oblique compositions, in which a scene is vividly observed as if in a sideways glance. Again like Degas, Lautrec was unconventional technically; he often painted on cardboard with very thin oil paint and he sometimes mixed normally separate media such as oil and pastel. However, whereas Degas had a reputation for aloofness, Lautrec was warm-hearted and his work is full of human sympathy. There is sometimes humour, but more often there are feelings of melancholy, disillusionment, or despair, especially in his brothel scenes. Prostitutes proved to be ideal models for him as they were so unselfconscious in moving around naked or semi-naked, and he represented their lives with no attempt to glamorize, moralize, or sentimentalize.

Lautrec sometimes lodged in brothels for weeks at a time and the prostitutes came to regard him as a friend. He concentrated on the tedious routine of their profession—waiting for clients, undergoing compulsory medical examinations, and so on—and he was particularly sensitive in depicting the lesbian relationships that often developed between them. A more extrovert side to his talents is seen in his celebrated poster designs, with which he achieved his greatest public success. Although he produced only about 30 posters (the first in 1891), he created such masterfully bold and arresting designs that he is almost universally regarded as the greatest of all artists in this field.

Suffering from alcoholism and syphilis, Lautrec became seriously ill in 1899 and he died two years later, aged 36. In 1922 his mother presented a large collection of his work to the museum in his native city of Albi, which was renamed the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. The museum houses memorabilia as well as works of art, including Lautrec's walking stick, which ingeniously opens up to reveal a tiny glass and flask of brandy.

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (1864–1901). French painter, printmaker, and draughtsman, one of the most colourful figures in 19th-century art. The son of an outrageously eccentric nobleman, he grew up with a love of horses and sport, but as a result of inherited illness and two falls when he was in his early teens the bones in his legs atrophied and he became permanently stunted. (Accounts of his height vary, but he was certainly not the midget of popular imagination. He was about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall—above the minimum height for military service—but his head looked disproportionately large and he walked with difficulty. Lautrec was stoical about his condition, never mentioning it except in jest; his deformity did not prevent him from attracting women as beautiful as Suzanne Valadon, and his courage in coming to terms with it helped to give him a hatred of any kind of pretence—a quality that emerges in the frankness of his art.) He showed an early talent for drawing (his father and one of his uncles were amateur artists) and in 1882 he began to study with Bonnat. The following year he became a pupil of Cormon, and in January 1884, aged 19, he was given an allowance and set up in a studio of his own in the Montmartre district of Paris, an area notorious for bohemianism and seedily glamorous nightlife. Almost all his work is taken from this world and his scenes of cafés, brothels, and nightclubs (notably the Moulin Rouge) have helped to create the popular image of fin-de-siècle Paris. He led a notoriously dissipated life, but he was always a dedicated professional artist, and it was a matter of pride that he kept his earnings in a separate bank account from his parental allowance (his work sold well, but he was constantly short of money because he was so extravagant). Even after a hard night's drinking he would arrive early at the printing workshop to supervise the production of his lithographs, and his output was very large considering his brief life.

Lautrec received a solid, traditional training with Bonnat and Cormon (two of the most renowned teachers of the day), and although his work often gives a wonderful feeling of spontaneity, it was in fact based on constant application as a draughtsman. In this he resembles Degas, who was the Impressionist he admired most. It was partly from him and partly from Japanese prints (see ukiyo-e) that Lautrec derived his striking use of oblique compositions, in which a scene is vividly observed as if in a sideways glance. Again like Degas, Lautrec was unconventional technically; he often painted on cardboard with very thin oil paint and he sometimes mixed normally separate media such as oil and pastel. However, whereas Degas had a reputation for aloofness, Lautrec was warm-hearted and his work is full of human sympathy. There is sometimes humour, but more often there are feelings of melancholy, disillusionment, or despair, especially in his brothel scenes. Prostitutes proved to be ideal models for him, as they were so unselfconscious in moving around naked or semi-naked, and he represented their lives with no attempt to glamorize, moralize, or sentimentalize. Lautrec sometimes lodged in brothels for weeks at a time and the prostitutes came to regard him as a friend. He concentrated on the tedious routine of their profession—waiting for clients, undergoing compulsory medical examinations, and so on—and he was particularly sensitive in depicting the lesbian relationships that often developed between them. A more extrovert side to his talents is seen in his celebrated poster designs, with which he achieved his greatest public success. Although he produced only about 30 posters (the first in 1891), he created such masterfully bold and arresting designs that he is almost universally regarded as the greatest of all artists in this field.

Suffering from alcoholism and syphilis, Lautrec became seriously ill in 1899 and he died two years later, aged 36. In 1922 his mother presented a large collection of his work to the museum in his native city of Albi, which was renamed the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. The museum houses memorabilia as well as works of art, including Lautrec's walking stick, which ingeniously opens up to reveal a tiny glass and flask of brandy.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , 1864–1901, French painter and lithographer, b. Albi. Son of a wealthy nobleman, Lautrec fell and broke both legs when he was a child. His permanently stunted growth has traditionally been seen as the result of this accident, but more recently doctors have theorized that it may have been the result of a rare genetic abnormality. Showing an early gift for drawing, he studied with Bonnat and Cormon and set up a studio of his own when he was 21. As a youth he was attracted by sporting subjects and admired and was influenced by the work of Degas .

His own work is, above all, graphic in nature, the paint never obscuring the strong, original draftsmanship. He detailed the music halls, circuses, brothels, and cabaret life of Paris with a remarkable objectivity born, perhaps, of his own isolation. His garish and artificial colors, the orange hair and electric green light of his striking posters, caught the atmosphere of the life they advertised. Lautrec's technical innovations in color lithography created a greater freedom and a new immediacy in poster design. His posters of the dancers and personalities at the Moulin Rouge cabaret are world renowned and have inspired countless imitations.

After a life of enormous productivity (more than 1,000 paintings, 5,000 drawings, and 350 prints and posters), debauchery, and alcoholism, Lautrec suffered a mental and physical collapse and died at the age of 37. His life has inspired numerous biographies, of varying accuracy. Although exhibitions of his work were not well received in his lifetime, he is now one of the world's most popular artists and is represented in most of the major museums of France and the United States. Many of his sketches and some paintings are in the Musée Lautrec of his native Albi. His painting At the Moulin de la Galette (1892) is in the Art Institute, Chicago; the lithograph Seated Female Clown (1896) is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Bibliography: See his correspondence, ed. by L. Goldschmidt and H. Schimmel (1969); complete lithographs and drypoints, ed. by J. Adémar (1965) and posters, intr. by E. Julien (1966); biographies by H. Perruchot (1960), P. Huisman (1964, repr. 1968), and J. B. Frey (1994); studies by D. Cooper (1969), F. Novotny (1969), J.-B. Naudin, G. Diego-Dortignac, and A. Daguin (1993), and D. Sweetman (2000).

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de. See ANQUETIN and CONDER.