Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings, drawings, and famous posters capture the energy, mix of classes and cultures, and the highs and lows of urban life in 19th-century Paris.

Biography of Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa was born into an aristocratic family in the South of France. Raised with privilege, he adored animals, particularly horses he owned and rode. Diagnosed with a congenital illness by the age of 8, two serious riding accidents halted the growth of his legs, leaving him at a full height of 5 feet with the upper body of a man and the legs of a child. Throughout his life, he walked with a cane, enduring considerable pain.

Excluded from the equestrian pursuits and other pastimes enjoyed by aristocrats of his time, Toulouse-Lautrec turned to art lessons with a local instructor, Rene Princeteau. Princeteau helped him channel his love for horses into drawing and painting. His initial sketches focused on horses, showcasing his talent for capturing action and movement, as seen in "Two Riders on Horseback" (1879). During this period, he encountered the Impressionists, with Degas becoming a significant early influence. Toulouse-Lautrec's art began to reflect Degas' elegant, gestural line work, ability to capture movement, and his immediate attraction to lively urban subjects.

Rejecting the prestigious traditional École des Beaux-Arts, which still emphasized painting in the style of the Italian Renaissance, upon arriving in Paris in 1882, Toulouse-Lautrec pursued individualized instruction in the studios of Leon Bonnat and Bernard Corman, which he could afford. These teachers encouraged unconventional training and experimental approaches. Among Corman's students were Vincent van Gogh and Emile Bernard, both renegades and eventual friends of Toulouse-Lautrec.

For the first time without supervision, the teenage Toulouse-Lautrec embraced the vibrant nightlife of Paris, making it the epicenter of his world. Despite ongoing health challenges, he was, by all accounts, the life of the party. Known for his exceptional charm, grace, wit, and sarcasm, he became a fixture in Montmartre's cabarets, bars, circuses, and brothels. He was familiar with the prostitutes, who affectionately called him "the Coffeepot" because of his diminutive stature.

Surrounded by a circle of hard-working and hard-playing friends and mentors in Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec developed his distinctive shorthand method of observing life. Whether in a theater, circus, or brothel, he sketched the scenes before him. Similar to the Impressionists, he preferred to work on location, completing his compositions on the spot. However, unlike many Impressionists who focused on scenes of upper-middle-class leisure, Toulouse-Lautrec gravitated towards urban nightlife, especially the more disreputable aspects.

Toulouse-Lautrec's stature provided him with a certain level of invisibility, allowing him to closely observe others. Prostitutes and performers, accustomed to scrutiny, were not wary of him. His portrait of the prostitute known as La Casque d'Or in "The Streetwalker" (1890-91) showcases the remarkable directness of his approach, illustrating the trust his models placed in him.

Possibly due to always feeling like an outsider, Toulouse-Lautrec cultivated a circle of friends on the fringes of society, to whom he was exceptionally generous; they reciprocated this care. Dancers, singers, and circus performers living and working in the bohemian Montmartre neighborhood of Paris became his close companions.

The talented young artist experienced commercial success early on, becoming an overnight sensation. Three thousand copies of Toulouse-Lautrec's very first poster for the Moulin Rouge flooded the city one December evening, drawing crowds to the cabaret, captivated by this iconic image. As a gesture of gratitude for his work (and to secure his availability for future projects), the cabaret reserved seating for him and showcased his paintings on their walls.

Once Toulouse-Lautrec's exceptional talent became known to business owners, who were already aware of his financial stability, he found himself flooded with work. He had what could be considered the perfect job: he could select which performances to attend, often without paying admission. Continuing to create posters for the Moulin Rouge, he became a VIP at nearly every other Parisian performance that caught his interest: from circus acts to the Jardin de Paris and other nightclubs.

Toulouse-Lautrec was also a regular visitor to the city's brothels, where he engaged the services of the prostitutes. They treated him with a kindness and humanity he was unaccustomed to, which he reciprocated with financial generosity. His series "Elles" offers a unique human insight into the world of prostitution, unlike any other study from that period. 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec passed away in 1901, just a few weeks before his 37th birthday. The cause of death was likely a result of alcoholism and syphilis.

Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec's Art Style

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's career unfolded alongside the rise of the urban middle class — individuals with disposable income for entertainment, yet not part of high society. He not only anticipated but also shaped the desires of this audience, with his style making a significant impact during his lifetime. His work inspired the exaggerated outlines, sinuous organic forms, and scriptwriting that characterized the Art Nouveau movement.

Considered the pioneer in elevating advertising to the realm of fine art, Toulouse-Lautrec brought about an extraordinary shift in art history. He blurred the boundaries between high art (painting, drawing, sculpture) and low art (posters, logos, and other forms of visual culture). Recognizing that some of his greatest masterpieces were posters for nightclubs does not diminish their value; it sets a high standard for exceptional commercial artists, from Alphonse Mucha to Andy Warhol.

Beyond being a brilliant advertiser and artist, Toulouse-Lautrec emerged as an essential, albeit informal, visual historian of urban life during Belle Époque Paris. His posters, prints, and paintings have heavily influenced films like "Moulin Rouge" and other period pieces set in the Belle Époque era.