Interesting facts about Toulouse-Lautrec

May 19, 2012 | In: People facts

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec was born on November 24, 1864 and lived only 37 years.

The famous French post-impressionist painter mainly depicted scenes from the Parisian night life in what was called La Belle Epoque. The late 19th century Paris was a place where bars, cafes and such could be found on every street, big or small.

The first thing that grabs your eyes when you see a picture of the painter is that he had very little feet, comparing with his torso. He suffered two accidents in his teens, breaking both his femurs. Many people did not believe that and said that his health problems come from the fact that his parents were first degree cousins.

Toulouse- Lautrec was always haunting the dance halls and nightclubs of Montmartre, taking his subjects from his observations of what occurred on stage and among the patrons.

He was only 4 feet 6 inches tall, and used a walking stick, making a very distinctive entry wherever he had stuff to do.
Although his subjects that he painted were usually shop girls, countesses, washer ladies, actors, clowns, acrobats, dogs, his favorite subject were horses.

The most famous works are:
The Moulin Rouge; a cabaret where Lautrec often drew and painted at the same time, giving action to every figure and revealing each personality.
“The Circus Fernando, The Ring Master” is a painting of a white horse running with an acrobat on its back, and a man with a mad face whipping the horse, and there is only a little people in the audience.

Alcoholism led to the failure of his health in 1899, and for the last few years of his life he confined his efforts to painting or drawing circus and jockey scenes from memory. After paralysis struck, Toulouse-Lautrec died at Malrome on Sept. 9, 1901.

Foto: Wikipedia