Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864-1901)
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Toulouse-Lautrec was
born in Albi (southern France) on November 24, 1864, as a descendant of one of the most
prominent French aristocratic families.
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He broke both legs as an
adolescent, and because of a congenital calcium deficiency, they
remained stunted for the rest of his life. He never became taller
than 152 cm, and had to use a cane for the rest of his life. His
parents were horrified to see their only son excluded from numerous
aspects of aristocratic life, such as a military career, hunts and
ball-room events, not to mention the vanishing possibility of an appropriate
marriage and continuation of the family. As a single
child with a great demand for personal care, his mother (countess
Adèle-Zoë-Marie-Marqette Tapié de Céleyran) came very close to him,
and encouraged his early artistic talents together with his paternal
uncle, count Charles de Toulouse-Lautrec. |
His artistic talents were expressed already around the age of 11
when he, in admiration of his uncle, began painting in oil. His first paintings
show hunting- and horse-scenes inspired by his family's aristocratic life style.
A further inspiration might have been the French romanticist painter Eugene
Delacroix (1798-1863), who was beloved by the grand public for his historical
paintings and dynamic animal depictions in vivid colours.
In 1881, at the age of 17, Toulouse-Lautrec
painted his father, count Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec, depicting him in
an oriental costume on horseback as a falconer. Given, that the painting
is done by a young art student, it shows an extremely clever handling of
the technically difficult portrait-format (as opposed to the
landscape-format).
The intense colours, the light brush strokes, and the
beautiful perception of movement depict vividly the horse and the
rider.
It is evident from the painting that Toulouse-Lautrec is
still an art student, trying out different techniques and motifs, and in
this context it is important to emphasize that Toulouse-Lautrec never
received an academic art education, but was solely taught and
tutored in an atelier.
The art academies of the time favoured anatomic
correctness in all depictions, but Toulouse-Lautrec showed an obvious
fascination for movement in natural surroundings, which might have been
based on his own physical incapacities. He favoured clearly an artistic
interpretation of reality.
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From this period exists also this lovely drawing: "Head
of the horse Gazelle", a study made in 1881, measuring 48 x 59 cm.
The drawing belongs to the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi (France).
The artist has used the same light brush strokes as on the above
painting of his father, and moreover never "finished" the
figure, which gives an excellent "optical" impression of a race horse in rapid
movement.
- Mali 1967. "Gazelle". The stamp is shown
considerably enlarged for a better view.
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Encouraged by his tutor, René Princeteau, Toulouse-Lautrec left
for Paris in March 1882, and was accepted as a student in the Parisian artist Léon Bonnat's
atelier. Settling in Paris broadened immediately the young' artists perspective
dramatically, and he became acquainted with the latest artistic trends of the
time, and exhibited also his works in cafés and cabarets. Toulouse-Lautrec was
fascinated by Parisian night life, and began soon to work "on
location". He became a true bohemian who, far from his family's
aristocratic life style and control, could pursue his own interests in the
Montmartre district.
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Excessive abuse of alcohol and frequent visits to
brothels became the norm for him.
Yet he perceived himself as an observer rather than a participant of
the demimonde milieu which he approached without any prejudice or signs of
a socio-critical engagement.
His "observing nature" is evident in this painting, showing
two women in a bar, courting a man.
- Hungary 1969. "These Ladies!". Oil on cardboard, 1885.
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.
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During this period he made numerous "on location
studies" at night, which he during day time elaborated into true
compositions. The result are paintings which, in spite of their characteristic
spontaneity, are meticulously elaborated. Here are some samples.
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Aden, Kathiri State of Seiyun 1967. "Au Moulin
Rouge, La Danse". Painted 1895. This painting is rightfully
considered one of Toulouse-Lautrec's major works.
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Aden, Kathiri State of Seiyun 1967. "La
Goulue". Painted 1892.
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Aden, Kathiri State of
Seiyun 1967. "Aristide Bruant", one of the more spectacular
Parisian characters. He was a former office clerk, who became famous as a
singer and cabaret-owner. The stamp shows a poster, designed for Bruant's
show on 3rd June 1892 in the cabaret "Les Ambassadeurs", close to
Champs Elysées in Paris.
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Toulouse-Lautrec's vitality, happiness and wits attracted a
large group of artists and intellectuals, including the Irish author Oscar
Wilde. Also the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and the French singer
Yvette Guilbert were among his friends, and he recorded his impressions of
these celebrities with striking originality and power, such as this
painting of Oscar Wilde.
His alcoholic dissipation, however, eventually brought
on a paralytic stroke, and after his initial artistic achievements he
suffered a mental and physical crisis which committed him to a mental
hospital in Neuilly, where he stayed until late May 1899.
- Ireland 1980. Europa stamp. Portrait of Oscar Wilde, painted by
Toulouse-Lautrec in 1895. Oil on cardboard. Belongs to the
Lester Collection in Vienna (Austria).
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Being discharged from the hospital he tried continuously, in
spite of the limitations set by his health, to develop his artistic work. From
this last sad period of his short life there are a few paintings issued on
stamps, of which the most famous is "Miss Dolly", an English woman on
a bar in Le Havre. The graceful personality of this lady is beautifully
rendered in the powerful colours, the lady's gentle face, and the meticulous
shaping of the background to set the general ambiance. This technique had become
the artist's early "brand", similarly shown on the above Hungarian
stamp.
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Mali 1967. "Outing in a Gig". Oil painting
1900. 62 x 50 cm. Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Albi (France).
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France 1965. "The English Woman from 'Star' in Le
Havre. Oil on wood, 1899. 41 x 32,8 cm. Toulouse-Lautrec Museum,
Albi (France).
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Kathiri 1967. Toulouse-Lautrec's cousin, Dr.med. Gabriel
Tapié de Céleyran (1869-1930). This painting is considered his last one,
and was a present to his indefatigable and loyal cousin, who
was always by his side during the last critical months of his life.
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Toulouse-Lautrec's signature, inspired by that of Albrecht
Dürer, appears on all his paintings, and is reproduced in the upper
selvedge of a set of stamps from Grenada, issued 1976. It is a contraction
of his initials, HTL- |
The Dancer and Clown
Cha-U-Kao in Moulin Rouge |
Beginning of
The Quadrille
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Woman with
Red Hair
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The Salon in "La Maison", rue des Moulins |
The Washer Man
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Marcelle Lender
dancing "Bolero" |
Woman with Black Boa
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Monsieur Boileau
in the Café |
Over the winter 1900/01 his general health deteriorated
fast, and he knew instinctively that the end was near, so he started
clearing up his life and affairs with regard to moving back to his
mother's estate in southern France. On 15th August 1901 Toulouse-Lautrec
had another stroke, which paralyzed the left part of his body, and on
20th August that same year he left definitively for his mother's estate,
Malromé. Toulouse-Lautrec died on 9th September 1901 in the presence of
his parents and his cousin Gabriel at Chateau de Malromé.
Toulouse-Lautrec and his life has been immortalized in the world
famous movie "Moulin
Rouge" in 2001, the centenary of his death, starring Nicole Kidman as
Satine, and John Leguizamo as Toulouse-Lautrec.
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