| Brief History: |
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born as the son of an aristocratic and rich family in the South of France. Maybe enhanced by his fragile health, Henri developed a passion for drawing and painting. He received painting and drawing lessons by a professional artist, Rene Princeteau.
At the age of 12 and 14, the young Henri broke both his legs. This stopped the growth of his legs while the rest of his body continued to develop normally. Toulouse never managed to cope mentally with this disability.
The young Henri went to Paris in 1882 to attend different, conventional painting studios where he met the artists Emil Bernard and Vincent van der Gogh. Soon he is more attracted by the Impressionist artists like Edgar Degas than by the conventional painting style and gives up the lessons in the studios. Lautrec lived in the Montmartre section, the nightlife quarter of cabarets, cafes, restaurants, sleazy dance halls and brothels. He soon emerged into this world and became a part of the bohemian community. In the evenings, he could be seen chatting with friends and drinking, and at the same time drawing sketches on paper. Then the next day, he would transform the sketches into paintings and lithographs.
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