At The Moulin Rouge: A Painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
A view of the Paris “demi-monde” of the 1890s that includes a self-portrait
At the Moulin Rouge is a lively and dynamic portrayal of life at a famous entertainment venue in Paris in the 1890s. The artist was one of the colourful figures that added to its fame.
The artist
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) was a highly accomplished and prolific artist who refused to abide by any conventions, whether artistic or personal. He did his own thing and went his own way, with the result that he left a huge number of works of art that get to the heart of Paris life in the last years of the 19th century.
He suffered from a genetic condition that gave him severe bone pain and meant that, when he broke both his legs as a child, they never grew any longer after they healed. He spent the rest of his life after adolescence with an adult’s body on top of a child’s legs. Unfortunately, his life was a short one as he died of a stroke, brought on by alcoholism, at the age of 37.
His physical condition, coupled with an unorthodox upbringing by an over- protective mother and a highly eccentric and mostly absent father, caused him to have psychological problems such that he only felt at home among other…