Toulouse Lautrec: The Life of an Artist - Art History School

hello my name is paul priestley welcome to my youtube channel art history school the home of art history for everybody today we are going to look at the french artist ori toulouse-lotrek perhaps one of the greatest graphic artists of the 19th century [Music] ori marie raymond de toulouse la trek mumford better known as already toulouse-lautrec was born in alby in the middle pyrenees region of france on the 24th of november 1864. he was the first born child of count alphonse and countess adele they were an aristocratic family descendants of the counts of toulouse with an ancestry stretching back almost a thousand years ironically toulouse latrek's family background was the polar opposite of the poor working class life he would lead in paris as an artist yet latrek became one of the most influential artists of the 19th century famous for his humanistic portrayals of sex workers that reveal an uncommon sensitivity perhaps motivated by a sense of identification with the socially marginalized due to his own physical issues and also for his highly individualized poster portrayals of mon mart entertainers cabaret dancers and singers that made some of them international celebrities his paintings have a great sense of immediacy but they were actually carefully prepared la trek always carried a small sketchbook wherever he went the thousands of rapid drawings and jottings that survive tell us that he drew frequently and how he developed his major images from quick visual impressions he created just 30 posters all lithographs all of which are now regarded as iconic images for the first time in history he elevated the medium of advertising to high art instinctively grasping the concept of celebrity and by interweaving commercial and fine art prefigured many of the ideas of andy warhol although toulouse-lautrec produced many wonderfully inventive artworks his short life was also the story of a battle with disability ridicule disease and alcoholism [Music] ulrida toulouse-latrek was born in this house the hotel du bosque in albi although much of his childhood was spent at the chateau de bosque the home of his grandfather his father was an avid hunter and womanizer a true blue-blooded eccentric not averse to dressing up in chain mail like his military ancestors his mother in contrast was deeply religious and doted on ori however his parents were first cousins and shared a grandmother as a result lotrek was born we believe with a syndrome known as pycd which causes brittle bones abnormalities to the face hands and other parts of the body likely caused by generations of family inbreeding and not uncommon practice amongst the french aristocracy of the time three of unrey's first cousins were born with dwarfism had severe deformities and relied on crutches to walk ori was the couple's only surviving son a younger brother having died in infancy in 1872 the countess moved to paris with eight-year-old horry he started school at the lycee fontaine where he met his lifelong friend maurice joyant but ori was often in poor health and in 1875 he returned with his mother to alby he was given private lessons and prescribed regular maths at the spa in amelie lebanon to help him grow by the age of 14 in 1878 he was still small for his age and unfortunately in may of that year he broke his left thigh bone in a fall in alby he was bedridden for some months and spent his time reading drawing and painting no doubt encouraged by his father and uncle who were both accomplished draftsman in august the following year he broke his right thigh when he fell into a ditch while walking with his mother both legs stopped growing and all medical therapies including electric shock treatment proved ineffective however he was not as legend has it a dwarf he was around five feet tall but the contrast of the torso of a fully grown man and shortened legs meant his physical appearance attracted a lot of mockery and ridicule throughout his life in 1881 latrek failed his baccalaureate in paris but with the help of renee pristo a professional artist who had given him art lessons since he was 14 he persuaded his mother to let him become an artist in early 1882 accompanied by his mother he moved to paris and entered the studio of leon bonnar the studio closed a few months later so he joined the studio of the successful painter fernand come on he was it was here that he got to know the painters emil bernard and vincent van gogh in 1883 it appears latrek had a relationship with the 17 year old marie chalet it would be the first of many the following year he officially left home after his mother's disapproval of his love of montmartre now began frequent changes of accommodation firstly to the rue fontaine in montmartre here he met edgar dega whose studio was next door but later that year he moved in with his friend rasho 1885 was a significant year for his development rene grenier and his wife who he lived with for a while took him to parties dancehalls and the cabarets the elysee montmartre and the mulan de la galette but his favorite was aristide bruins morilliton whilst his friends from cormont studio emil bernard and vincent van gogh widened his artistic horizons and helped him find his own style in 1886 he left cormon's studio and rented a studio on the corner of rue collincour which he kept until 1897. it was here that he met suzanne valadon who modeled for him she was beautiful strong-willed and a painter who became lotrek's mistress he must have possessed a powerful attraction for her as she was said to have faked a suicide attempt in 1888 after he refused to marry her the little artist was becoming a familiar sight around montmartre often seen with his bowler hat a walking stick particularly at night life settled into a regular pattern staying up late drinking cocktails and wine talking and drawing working furiously and occasionally sleeping in 1887 he exhibited with van gogh in paris and developed an interest in japanese prince the next year the belgium critic octave mouse invited him to exhibit 11 paintings at the 20s exhibition in brussels shortly afterwards theo van gogh bought this painting rice powder for the goop hill gallery in paris for 150 francs in 1889 he participated in the salon des independence and did so until 1894. during this period he painted a series of outdoor portraits in the perrier forest garden in montmartre later in october the moulin rouge opened in the boulevard de cliche le trek became a regular visitor and had a table reserved for him and his friends he often displayed his work there too but latrek's immersion in the nightlife of paris began to take its toll he was drinking hard and had contracted syphilis for which his roommate dr borges was treating him yet despite producing some of his most brilliant work over the next few years the seeds of his self-destruction had been sown in 1891 he painted alamei basing the painting on a stage photograph in which his friend maurice gilbert played the role of the sleazy low-life character in the company of an unidentified woman also that year he was commissioned to create a poster for the moulin rouge he produced lagulu showing the 20 year old dancer in action apparently her version of the kang can was a complete sensation the poster made him famous overnight especially amongst the elite of paris here we can see la trek's painting at the moulin rouge begun in 1892 this striking painting shows a group of lotrek's friends at the bar of the moulin rouge seated around the table are the elder music critic eduard du jadan a dancer known as la macarona photographer paul cescao and latrek's friend champagne salesman at dibochi maurice jubilee who sits next to an undead unidentified redhead behind this group latrek himself is seen walking with his tall cousin while lagulu adjusts her hair beneath the watchable eye of mumfromage you'll notice an extra strip of canvas shows a woman's face in close-up this was added sometime after the rest of the painting the startling green face dominates the foreground and helps to involve the viewer in what had previously been a restrained and balanced composition in 1893 maurice joyend organized laura trek's first large private exhibition at the busan valladon gallery in paris at the time he was living in a brothel he was commissioned to create 16 paintings for the brothel of which the bed is the most famous in the series it depicts two women lit by an oil lamp gazing at each other beneath the sheets and blankets he also created this poster of jane avril for her show at the jardin de paris her english chorus girl costume a more sophisticated refined style led to a very long and successful career during 1894 latrek visited amsterdam to study the paintings of rembrandt and franz howells and in june and october visited london where he displayed his posters in the royal aquarium may 1895 latrek was again in london and met oscar wilde the night before his trial for gross indecency they had met previously in paris but la trek's request to draw oscar's portrait that night was refused because he was too nervous to sit so latrek went back to his hotel room and captured the haggard anxiety and premature aging of his friend from memory the trek's ma second major private exhibition at the busan gallery in paris took place in 1896 and attracted many visitors and some pictures sold but he stubbornly refused to sell a painting to the old king of serbia who he said was a vulgar pig farmer in august of that year he set off on a long journey to spain visiting madrid and toledo later his friend emil bernard introduced him to the world of bicycle racing and he created these two prints on that theme in 1897 he took part in the free aesthetics exhibition in brussels and he may move studio again to the avenue frosher not far from the place pigalle he left the studio in 1898 leaving behind 87 works the new tenants used some of them to cover the holes in the wallpaper the rest were sold for next to nothing unfortunately latrek was finding it hard to control his drinking and during the summer spent in vilner sir john he had an attack of delirium tremors 1898 saw him exhibit 78 works at goop hill's gallery in london but the exhibition was a failure not that he cared because he'd lost interest but he did produce a second lithograph album dedicated to the cabaret artist yvette jubir the singer with the long black gloves who would eventually have a successful career in britain and the us but la trek was now really sober and the quality of his work was diminishing he spent the summer in the aramosh but suffered a persecution delirium hiding in a friend's house believing he was being pursued by the police by 1899 he was a pathetic sight bouts of depression obsession anxiety became more frequent unfortunately when his beloved mother left paris to look after her mother in alby latrek fell under the influence of a stable owner who encouraged his drinking in february 1899 latrek had an alcoholic fit in a brothel and was committed to a mental hospital in niu by his mother his mental state sparked many unkind remarks in the press not that he was aware he occupied his time drawing circus scenes from memory with coloured pencils on the 17th of march 1899 his mother removed him from the hospital and paid an impoverished cousin paul viol to supervise him this seemed to work for a while and in 1900 la trek became a member of the jury to judge posters at the universal exhibition in paris he arrived in a wheelchair pushed by his cousin but despite his cousin's attempts to distract la trek with holidays to the coast and visits to the theatre the drinking continued yet during this period he did create six paintings inspired by a visit to isidor de lara's 1899 opera messalina by 1901 despite numerous theater visits he had lost his lust for life and in march another fit caused a cerebral hemorrhage and paralyzed his legs from april he spent three months in paris with his cousin settling his estate and signing important works on the 15th of july he left paris for good in mid-august he had a stroke which left him paralyzed on one side and on the 20th of that month his mother took him to malrome a chateau she'd bought in 1883. latrek died in the chateau on the 9th of september with his parents and his put cousin paul vio by his side he was just 36 years old at the time of his death it is estimated he had produced more than 900 paintings of watercolors 5 000 drawings and 370 lithographs including his famous posters which remain some of the best known iconic illustrations of paris still loved and appreciated around the world today thank you for watching i hope you've really enjoyed learning about or reader toulouse le trek a wonderful artist if you have then please subscribe to my channel and if you do please don't forget to click the little black bell because that will tell you when my latest videos are released if you want to 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Channel: Art History School

Views: 113,733

Keywords: toulouse lautrec documentary, Toulouse Lautrec, Lautrec, Henri de toulouse-lautrec (visual artist), Henri de toulouse lautrec, henri de toulouse-lautrec, Jane Avril, Montmartre, art history, famous artists, artist, history of art, artist in school, post impressionism, Paul Priestley, Moulin Rouge, Can Can, Yvette Guilbert, French Artist, Paris, Albi, french art, 19th century art, graphic design, le chat noir, the moulin rouge, At the moulin rouge, Toulouse lautrec vie

Id: 71ac85yzEJw

Length: 18min 22sec (1102 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020