Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born in 1864 into one of the oldest aristocratic families in France, but two childhood fractures — probably caused by a genetic bone condition — left his legs stunted, and he grew to just four feet eleven inches. This physical alienation from the world of his birth may have drawn him to the demimonde of Montmartre, the Parisian district of cabarets, dance halls, brothels, and circus performers that became his lifelong subject and spiritual home.
Lautrec’s art is characterized by a wickedly accurate line, bold flat colour influenced by Japanese prints, and a psychological acuity that could be both sympathetic and merciless. His paintings and lithographs of the Moulin Rouge, the café-concerts, and the maisons closes capture the performers and habitués of Parisian nightlife with an intimacy that comes from genuine immersion — he lived among his subjects, sketching constantly. His poster for the Moulin Rouge featuring the dancer La Goulue (1891) revolutionized graphic design, establishing the artistic poster as a major art form.
Alcoholism destroyed Lautrec’s health by his mid-thirties, and he died in 1901 at the age of thirty-six. In barely fifteen years of mature work he produced a body of paintings, prints, and posters that provides the definitive visual record of fin-de-siècle Paris and that influenced graphic design, advertising art, and illustration for the entire twentieth century.