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Toulouse-Lautrec was born in Albi, Tarn in the Midi-Pyrénées Region of France. From an old aristocratic family that had lost much of its prestige, he was the son of Comte Alphonse and Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec. At age twelve Henri broke his left leg, and at fourteen his right leg. The bones did not heal properly, and his legs ceased to grow. He reached maturity with a body trunk of normal size but with abnormally short legs. He was only 4 1/2 feet (1.5 meters) tall.
Deprived of the physical life that a normal body would have permitted, Toulouse-Lautrec lived completely for his art. He would become an important post-impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, recording the Bohemian lifestyle of Paris at the end of the 19th century. In the mid 1890s, Toulouse-Lautrec contributed illustrations to the humourous magazine, Le RireLe Rire meaning "to laugh," was a successful humor magazine published in Paris, France from October of 1894 through the " Belle Epoque". Founded by Felix Juven, the magazine was put out as an illustrated weekly at a time when corruption and mismanagement.
For his work, he has been called the soul of MontmartreMontmartre is a hill in the north of Paris, France, in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank . The name "Montmartre" comes from "Mont des Martyrs" because the bishop Saint Denis (patron saint of France), the priest Rustique, and the archdeacon, the place where he made his home. His paintings portray life at the Moulin RougeMoulin Rouge ( French for "red mill") is a traditional cabaret, built in 1889 by Joseph Oller who already owned the Paris Olympia. Situated in the red-light district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement near Montmartre, Paris, Fran and other Montmartre and Parisian cabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watcs and theaters, and in the brothels that he regularly frequented. Two famous people occurring in his paintings were the singer, Yvette GuilbertYvette Guilbert born January 20, 1867 in Paris, France died February 4, 1944 in Aix-en-Provence, was a music-hall singer and actress. Born into abject poverty, Guilbert began singing as a child but at age sixteen worked as a model at the Printemps departm and Louise Weber, known as the outrageous La GoulueLa Goulue born 1866 died January 30, 1929, is the stage name of Louise Weber a French Cancan dancer. Not much is known about her early childhood but it is believed Louise Weber was born to a Jewish family from Alsace that eventually moved to Paris. Her mo, adancer who created the " French Can-CanThe Cancan (also spelt Can-Can Can Can is regarded today primarily as a music hall dance, perfomed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings, harking back to the fashions of the 1890s. The main."
Toulouse-Lautrec taught painting to Suzanne Valadon, one of his models, and encouraged her efforts. He was a severe alcoholic for most of his life and shortly before his death he was institutionalized for it.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec contracted syphilis, possibly from a prostitute whom he painted many times, Rosa La Rouge, and it eventually killed him. He died at his estate in Malromé and is buried in Verdelais , Gironde, a few miles from his birthplace.
Today, a painting by him can sell for as much as US$ 14.5 million.
Some of his important works: