Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Photo of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

De Toulouse-Lautrec was born on November 24, 1864 in Albi, France. 
“He pursued painting as a youth and went on to create innovations in lithograph drawing” (Haynes). He was born with a rare bone disease condition, similar to today’s dwarfism, where his body was an average size, but his legs significantly shortly. At the age of 14, he fell and broke one of his legs, and later broke the other leg. Due to his health conditions, he never really fully recovered and he had a hard time walking. During his convalescence he kept busy by drawing and painting a lot. He died on September 9, 1901 at the age of 36, due to heavy drinking, and various illnesses (Haynes).  

Image 1. Self Portrait in Front of Mirror (1882) 

Self-portrait of Henri is a beautiful piece of art. After studying this painting closely, I noticed, he included the mirror used for his self-portrait. I really like this piece.

Henri attended several schools in Paris, Bonnats’ Studio and Cormon’s studio among others, where he learned different techniques (Gruitrooy 6). He was mainly a portrait and poster painter. He painted variety of subjects, closeups, full length, he painted them in still sitting or in motion (Gruitrooy 69). His paintings were full of life, describing the people’s personality, feelings, or lifestyle. 

Image 2. Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891) 

This poster of the Moulin Rouge advertisement, was one of Lautrec’s pieces that made him famous for life (Gruitrooy 31). His ability to portray the uplifting spirit and fun in the Moulin Rouge, the famous dance hall in the center of Montmartre was priceless. I have seen his posters as a framed art in the past, but I never knew it was Lautrec’s art. I am glad to learn the artists behind these phenomenal paintings.

Image 3. Study for Woman Putting on Her Stocking (1894)

Unlike Picasso, a painter I studied previously, Lautrec’s paintings mostly seemed very realistic. When I saw his art for the first time, I noticed the brown background on many of his paintings. I learned he used cardboard quite a bit for his art. This added an interesting touch to his art. It almost seems like the picture is already half way painted before he started, as the brown base gave him opportunity to focus on what is was going to paint. 

Image 4. The Young Routy (1883)

I really liked this artist. As I mentioned before, I have seen his art around, I just didn’t know who the artist was. I am excited learning about these talented painters. I love his style, and I really enjoy his portraits. They are very realistic, and the mood and spirit are so well portrayed! I also love his ability to use one color and use so many other shades of that color in his paintings! Amazing. He had several different styles, but his theme of painting people was always present.

References:

Gruitrooy, Gerhard. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. New Line Books Limited, 2006.
Haynes, Clarence. "Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec. "Biography.com, A&E Networks Television,  15 Nov. 2017.

          www.biography.com/people/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec-9509115. Accessed May 27, 2018. 

Image 1: Self Portrait in Front of Mirror (1882) (Gruitrooy 5).
Image 2: Moulin Rouge: La Goulue (1891) (Gruitrooy 29).
Image 3: Study for Woman Putting on Her Stocking (1894) (Gruitrooy 114).
Image 4: The Young Routy (1883) (Gruitrooy 10).
Photo of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: https://discovertarn.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/henriatwork.jpg