Toulouse-Lautrec: Posters of Paris
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was born into France’s most blue-blood family, but was a self imposed exile from high society due to a childhood accident in which he broke both legs that didn’t heal properly. The result was a man of powerful torso, but with very stunted legs.
His most original contribution to art was not in landscape paintings, but in the graphic arts, where he made the new form of lithography and the poster respectable media for major art. He was a master at delineating character in nightlife scenes: cabarets, circuses, bars, and brothels. But instead of looking like a caricature drawn by an artist, the people in the paintings make caricatures of themselves.
First you notice the flaming red lipstick and pasty faces. Then you notice the top hatted men and an orange haired prostitute. Even the background figures are more than local color. He often included himself in the painting. He’s the little guy in the bowler hat standing beside the tallest man in the bar.