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Biography

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in 1864, in the south of France. Unknown at the time, Henri suffered from a genetic condition that prevented his bones from healing properly. At 12 years old he broke his left leg and at 14 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, an eccentric aristocrat, in the typical pastimes of riding and hunting. Instead, he focused on sketching and painting. In his late teens, Lautrec was honored to become a student of the artist Fernand Cormon, whose studio was located on the hill above Paris, Montmartre. When he graduated from Cormon's studio, Lautrec gave himself up fully to the bohemian life, spending much of his time drinking, carousing, and constantly sketching in cabarets, racetracks, and brothels.

His stunted physique earned him laughs and scorn, and kept him from experiencing many of the physical pleasures offered in Montmartre, a sorrow that he drowned in alcohol. At first it was beer and wine. Then brandy, whiskey, and the infamous absinthe found their ways into his life. Art and alcohol were his only mistresses, and they were mistresses to which he devoted all of his time and energy. He was doing one or both almost every day of his life until he died.

Adapting the 19th Century fad for Japanese style that pervaded French art (asymmetric composition, flat areas of color) to the burgeoning art of the picture poster, he created thousands of artworks both to memorialize his friends and to advertise their venues. Among those whose images are now a part of art history are the Moulin Rouge dancers Louise Weber (La Goulue) and Jane Avril, and the combative singer/entrepreneur Aristide Bruant.

Toulouse-Lautrec passed away in September 1901 at the age of 36. It's reported that, as he lay on his deathbed with his mother and a few friends at his side, his rarely-seen father showed up to everyone's astonishment--everyone except Henri who said, "Good papa. I knew you wouldn't miss the kill."

In fact, Henri's last words were addressed to his father, who stood fluttering about, suggesting that they cut off Henri's beard in accordance with Arabic customs he'd heard of, and that they use Henri's shoelaces to shoo flies. To which Henri spoke his last words: "Old fool."

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec lives on as the archetypical bohemian artist of the belle époque, the "beautiful era" in Paris in the 1890's. Toulouse-Lautrec captured the spirit of an era in his artwork. He was extremely prolific in the ten years he spent as a printmaker until his physical breakdown and death at the age of 37. His works included 368 lithographs, drypoints, monotypes and posters which established him as one of the great masters of Post-Impressionism.