Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born at the Château du Bosc, Camjac, Aveyron, in the south of France on the 24th of November 1864. He was a part of an aristocratic family and was titled as count (Comte). His younger brother was born in 1867 but died the following year. At the age of 8, Toulouse-Lautrec lived with his mother in Paris, where he drew sketches and caricatures in his exercise workbooks. René Princeteau was a friend of his father and gave him lessons in painting. He was specialized in painting horses.
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| Tethered horse (1881) |
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| Portrait of Suzanne Valadon (1885) |
Henri fractured both his thigh bones in the upper legs and never healed when he became 14 years old. This disorder is called pycnodysostosis (aka Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome). And his legs didn't grow any further. He moved to Montmartre in Paris in 1882 and stayed there for the next 20 years to become a painter. He started painting prostitutes. In 1885 Toulouse-Lautrec began to exhibit his work at the cabaret of Aristide Bruant's Mirliton. Then he participated in an exposition in 1887 in Toulouse using the pseudonym "Tréclau". Back in Paris he exhibited with Van Gogh and Louis Anquetin. He had a relationship with Suzanne Valadon who was also a painter but in 1888 he left her and she attempted suicide.
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| The Laundress (1886) |
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| "Poudre de Riz" (1887) |
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| At the circus Fernando - the rider (1888) |
But 1888 was also the year of his breakthrough. He knew the Van Gogh's. Theo Van Gogh (brother of Vincent) bought "Poudre de Riz" (Rice Powder) for 150 francs for the Goupil & Cie gallery. From 1889 to 1894, Toulouse-Lautrec took part in the Salon des Indépendants exhibitons regularly. He made many outdoor paintings of his model Carmen Gaudin (famous for his painting The Laundress - 1888).
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| At the Moulin Rouge (1890) |
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| Ambassadeurs – Aristide Bruant (1892) |
In 1890 he challenged artist Henry de Groux into a duel that never happened. The reason for this duel was because De Groux criticised Van Gogh's works. Toulouse-Lautrec contributed several illustrations to the magazine Le Rire during the mid-1890s. He also started to drink a lot and visiting prostitutes who also were inspiration for his paintings. When the Moulin-Rouge cabaret opened in 1889 he was asked to produce some posters. From that moment he could now make a good living of making promotional posters for night clubs in Paris.
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| Divan Japonais (1893) |
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| Le Chat Noir (1896) |
By February 1899 his alcoholism became very serious. His family had him committed to Folie Saint-James, a sanatorium in Neuilly-sur-Seine for three months where he painted 39 circus portraits. Then he started traveling through France. Both his physical and mental health began to decline due to alcoholism and syphilis and on the 9th of September 1901, at the age of 36, Toulouse-Lautrec died.
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| Messaline (1900) |