Henry de Toulouse - Lautrec. A Talented Dwarf with a Beautiful Heart. Why did He Mainly Paint Prostitutes?
A couple of days ago I remembered that about 25 years ago in college I wrote a very interesting essay about Henry de Toulouse - Lautrec and one of his paintings. I remember I was very interested in his paintings and his life story. The painting which impressed me most at that time was a girl viewed from the back. It is funny but when I found this painting on the internet it turned out that I remembered many details from it. I really like the colour pattern he used and also that the painting tells you the whole story about that girl. You imagine that it is an early morning and she worked as a prostitute all night. She hates her job and she feels annoyed and hopeless. But I also see that she has made a decision. Her back shows that she is ready to quit and change her life. That she is fed up and needs a new life. It is amazing but the characters painted by Toulouse - Lautrec always call for sympathy and support.
He painted a lot and his works were very talented. I like them all. But why did he mainly paint prostitutes? May be his life could tell us. His life was not easy although he was from a rich family. I thought it would be interesting for you to know about him too.
His parents were famous aristocrats. Their life was filled with hunting, balls and other entertainments. That life was waiting for little Henry, Little Treasury as they called him. I still remember from my essay that he was born under the sounds of powerful thunder. Even heaven announced that a great person had been born. Till 14 years old everything was excellent, he accompanied his father during hunting and already during childhood he showed painting talent. But at 14 years old he fell from the horse and broke his thigh. Then he broke the other one. The broken bones knitted badly and were atrophied. It turned out he had a severe genetic disease. His parents were cousins. As at that time people didn't know about genetic diseases his dad was very disappointed. Henry stopped growing, his face turned into one with a wrong shape and thick lips. The beautiful boy converted into a dwarf. But that change made him an artist.
He moved to Paris where he met a deaf - mute artist Pernsto who was impressed with the painting talent of Henry and they also became close as nature deprived both of them. Pernsto became his teacher.
Painting became a shelter for Toulouse - Lautrec. He constantly painted like crazy. He tried to depict movements of people and animals. He watched life greedily and tried to paint each moment. His wish was to show as closely as possible the individual character of a model.
But he was at an age when he needed love. Nature awarded him with a hot temperament. But he understood that nobody would love an ugly dwarf. His mom was the only woman who really loved him.
But she couldn't give him the love that was that necessary for a 20 years old man. Passionate love which makes your head spin. His friends decided to help him and organized a meeting with a prostitute. But after experiencing physical love he was very disappointed. He understood that passion was not love. As he didn't have any chances for real love it would only be able to come out on his paintings.
But Montmartre attracted him. He painted everybody and everywhere. His attentive eye captured all peculiarities of a model and with one line he could express the character. He painted hopeless prostitutes, sottish writers and others. He painted not the appearance but the inner world of the model.
In brothels there were people who didn't have anything to hide or lose. After snobbery prospering at his childhood all those prostitutes were like fresh air to Henry. Later Moulin Rouge was opened and Toulous - Lautrec painted the first billboard for it. It was a great success. He made about 300 billboards for Moulin Rouge and it brought him publicity.
He also was an admirer of a dancer La Gully who showed up naked in the public. She looked like a woman who tried everything in her life.
Toulouse - Lautrec didn't forget about his disease. He felt lonely and unhappy but hid it with cynicism and cruelty. But everybody understood that under that mask a Little treasure was hiding. He drank a lot, then he was infected with syphilis by red - haired Rose. His health got worse and worse and he came back to his mom. Henry de Toulouse - Lautrec died at 36 years old in his mom's hands.
Due to his hot temperament he was looking for love but only the girls from brothels agreed to share a bed with him. His paintings tell us he understood and sympathized with them. I think he was painting prostitutes as he felt a similarity with them. He was ugly on the outside, they were ugly inside. It made them look alike.
Sources:
https://artchive.ru/artists/1307~Anri_de_TuluzLotrek
http://www.tuluz.ru/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_de_Toulouse-Lautrec
Great post. He was one of my favourite artists. A very sad tale too. I seem to remember he was a friend and contemporary of Van Gogh too.
Thank you very much! I didn't know they were friends but I saw one of the best portrait of Van Gogh made by Toulouse - Lautrec.
Beautiful post. My english/ french teacher was particularly fond of Toulouse -Lautrec, we spent a lot of time talking about his work in her classes- thanks for the reminder :)
Ohh great! you are lucky with the teacher! And thank you))
Very interesting and educative post. I really like Toulouse-Lautrec and i was happy and surprised to find this written down. Thank you!
Thank you so much)))) So glad to hear that there are many people who like Toulouse - Lautrec as me)))
Great post! In fact, it was so good that we decided to feature it in our latest newspaper. Read about it here: https://steemit.com/steemplus/@steemplus/steemplus-tuesday-october-11-the-daily-newspaper-that-pays-you-to-find-high-quality-content
It is a great honour for me! Thank you very much!
A fun and informative post. So glad you were featured in the newspaper so I could find you. Congrats!
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!
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