Born into the aristocracy in the south of France, Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was the firstborn child of eccentric Count Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa. After the death of his brother, Toulouse-Lautrec’s parents separated, and a nanny cared for him.
Henri broke both his legs during adolescence, leaving him with a stunted appearance. His legs ceased to grow. He stopped growing at 5 ft tall, but he developed an adult torso while retaining his child-sized legs.1 Some biographers theorize his height may have contributed to his alcoholism.2
Nevertheless, Lautrec’s mother had high ambitions. She used her family’s influence to gain him entry to famed French painter, Leon Bonnat’s studio. As a teacher, he encouraged freedom of expression and execution. Studying with Bonnat placed Toulouse-Latrec into the heart of Monmartre, the area of Paris known for its Bohemian lifestyle and the haunt of writers, artists, and philosophers. It was an area he rarely left over the next 20 years.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
When he was 21 years-old, Toulouse-Lautrec met Suzanne Valadon. He made several portraits of her and supported her ambition as an artist. It is believed that they were lovers and that she wanted to marry him.
When the Moulin Rouge opened in 1889, Toulouse-Lautrec was commissioned to produce a series of posters. Other artists looked down on the work, but he ignored them.3
Toulouse-Lautrec’s family were Anglophiles.4 and though he was not as fluent as he pretended to be, he spoke English well enough.
Like Monet, Lautrec was known for his cooking. He was called “Henri the cook” by his cousins.5 After Lautrec’s death, his close friend Maurice Joyant published Lautrec’s collection of recipes – some original, some adapted – in the book La Cuisine de Monsieur Momo, Célibataire. 1930.6
In later life, he developed an affinity for brothels and prostitutes, his subject matter for many of his paintings. He shows the late-19th-century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. Due his ‘grotesque’ appearance, he felt a parallel between his condition and the impoverishment of the prostitute. They inspired him. He declared, “A model is always a stuffed doll, but these women are alive.” He painted Au Salon de la rue des Moulins from memory.7
Initially, Toulouse-Lautrec only drank beer and wine, but his tastes expanded into spirits, namely absinthe.8 By 1899, Toulouse-Lautrec’s alcoholism began to take its toll, and he collapsed from exhaustion. His family committed him to a sanatorium. He was there for three months. While there, he drew 39 portraits. After his release, he returned to his Paris studio and travelled throughout France. His health was declining due to alcoholism and syphilis. He was only 36 years-old when he suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed on one side. Toulouse-Lautrec died at his mother’s estate. His last words reportedly were Le vieux con! (The old fool!) 9
(my favorite, I think)
Toulouse-Lautrec excelled at portraying people in their working environments, with the color and movement of the gaudy nightlife, glamour stripped away. He was a master at painting crowd scenes where each figure was highly individualized. In his larger paintings, individual figures could be identified by silhouette alone. Lautrec relied on a highly linear approach emphasizing contours.
The Laundress
La Blanchisseuse, The Laundress was in storage until 2005, when an anonymous buyer acquired it for 22.4 million dollars, breaking the record for the most expensive Lautrec painting sold at an auction.
1 Harris, Nathaniel (1989). The Art of Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: Gallery Books.
2 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Biography. lautrec.info. Archived: June 2010.
3 Toulouse Lautrec: The Full Story. UK: Channel 4. Archived May 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
4 Smith, Joan. Toulouse-Lautrec: S Life. Weidenfeld. independent.co.uk. Retrieved: Nov 2014.
5 Mack, Gerstle. Toulouse-Lautrec. New York: A.A. Knopf. 1939. 158-159.
6 Wittels, Betina and Hermesch, Robert. Breaux, T. A. (ed.). Absinthe, Sip of Seduction: A Contempory Guide. Fulcrum Publishing. 2008. 35.
7 Toulouse Lautrec: The Full Story: UK: Channel 4. 2009. Retrieved Oct 2010.
8 Neret, Gilles. Toulouse Lautrec. Germany: Taschen. pp. 134–135. I
9 Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Lefevre Fine Art. Archived May 2019. Retrieved May 2019.
