Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French post-Impressionist painter known for illustrating the lively nightlife of Paris in the late 19th century. Born into an aristocratic family, he suffered from a genetic condition that stunted his growth but allowed him to focus on art. As a student of Fernand Cormon in Montmartre, he befriended Van Gogh and began frequenting the bohemian circles of Parisian artists and entertainers. Toulouse-Lautrec is renowned for his posters advertising the Moulin Rouge cabaret and portraits of dancers and performers that captured the spirit of the belle époque. Although troubled by disabilities and alcoholism, his art

1. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
I’d like to tell you about Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864-1901)who was a French painter of the post-
impressionist period who illustrated the colorful and
whimsical life of Paris.
Zabolotnaya Viktoriya,RIMO-202

2. Biography of Henri de Toulouse-
Lautrec
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-
Monfa—simply known as Henri de Toulouse-
Lautrec was born into an aristocratic family in
the south of France in 1864. His father, Count
Alphonse, was a notorious eccentric known for
all kinds of unpredictable behavior: from
washing his socks in the river (unheard of for
an aristocrat!) to galloping off to a hunt
wearing outlandish costumes, to simply
disappearing for long stretches of time. The
young Henri never became very close to him.
Unknown at the time, Henri suffered from a
genetic condition that prevented his bones
from healing properly. Fatefully, at age twelve,
he broke his left leg. And at age fourteen, he
broke his right leg. Both legs ceased to grow,
while the rest of his body continued to grow
normally.
At maturity, Lautrec was 4 1/2 feet tall. But his
great misfortune was a sort of blessing in
disguise, at least from our perspective. After his
accidents he was no longer able to follow his
father in the typically aristocratic pastimes of
riding and hunting. Instead, he focused on
sketching and painting.

3. His father Count Alphonse

4. •
• In his late teens, Lautrec was honored to become a Art and alcohol
student of the artist Fernand Cormon, whose studio
was located on the hill above Paris, Montmartre.
• Toulouse-Lautrec mostly moved in the social circles
in Montmartre, the well-known Parisian haunt for
bohemians, fellow artists, writers, philosophers, and
other personalities. After studying under Bonnat,
Toulouse-Lautrec transferred under the tutelage of
Fernand Cormon in 1882. It was here where he struck
friendships with some of his most enduring
companions, such as Emile Bernard and Van Gogh.
After his studies, he participated in an exhibit in 1887,
and later on in Paris with Van Gogh and other friends.
With the opening of the famous Moulin Rouge
cabaret, Toulouse-Lautrec produced arguably his
most famous and recognizable work in the form of
posters for the club revue. Despite the perceived
lowliness of such a job or endeavor, Toulouse-Lautrec
persisted thanks to his aristocratic background that
somehow imparted a sense of superiority and
detachment from those negative perceptions. He
therefore also became a valued guest of the cabare.

5. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

6. • Toulouse-Lautrec’s emotional troubles
due to his physical handicap continued to
hound him in adulthood, unfortunately,
and he turned to alcohol to deal with the
distress. He enjoyed beer, wine, and
American-style mixed drinks and
cocktails, which were just beginning to
become popular at that time. A cocktail
drink was even attributed or supposedly
created by Toulouse-Lautrec, utilizing
absinthe, the popular distilled alcohol and
addictive substance during that time.
• By 1893, Toulouse-Lautrec began
suffering the consequences of his
alcoholism, which led to his being entered
into a sanatorium in 1899. Unfortunately,
he passed away just shortly after in 1901
due to alcoholic complications and
syphilis. His mother sought to promote his
art even after his death, eventually
establishing the Toulouse-Lautrec
Museum, which today houses the world’s
largest collection of works by the painter.

7. His grave

8. The Toulouse-Lautrec Museum

9. • Today we know Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec as the
archetypical bohemian artist of the belle époque,
the "beautiful era" in Paris in the last decade of
the 19th Century. He helped usher in the new
century, and died when the job was done.
• Lautrec captured the spirit and emotion of the era
in his posters and portraits. Although his
handicap and his alcohol abuse kept him from
enjoying some of life's pleasures, Lautrec clearly
shared in the joie de vivre of the time.

10. Lautrec paintied en plain air in the manner of
the Impressionists, and often posed sitters in the
Montmartre garden of his neighbor. His favorite
models was a prostitute nicknamed La Casque
d'Or (Golden Helmet.Lautrec used peinture à
l'essence, or oil thinned with turpentine, on
cardboard, rendering visible his loose, sketchy
brushwork. The transposition of this creature of
the night to the bright light of day—her pallid
complexion and artificial hair color clash with
the naturalistic setting—signals Lautrec's
fascination with sordid and dissolute subjects
Lautrec eventually established himself as the
premier poster artist of Paris and was often
commissioned to advertise famous performers
in his prints.

11. Jane Avril ,1892

12. Helen Vary,1889

14. Ball at the opera