28. A Famous Painter’s Intimacy Habits
Belle Epoque painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901) made Parisian nightlife and France’s world of entertainment his specialty and documented it with keen psychological insight. Among the pioneers of the Post-Impressionist period, he ranks along the likes of Van Gogh and Gauguin. His work was marked by an extreme simplification of outlines and movement, and the frequent use of large color areas. He had a strong urge to be intimate with “ladies of the night”. So strong, that he lived in brothels. His private life was marked by a fixation on these women, which spilled over into his art and influenced his paintings.
In his teens, Toulouse-Lautrec broke his thigh bones in a couple of accidents, and the mishaps required extensive periods of painful convalescence. He filled the lonely hours by painting. The accidents left him with atrophied legs and made walking difficult for the rest of his life. He moved to Paris in the early 1880s and devoted himself to becoming an artist. He also devoted himself to the nightlife and the women that came with it. When he was not in Parisian brothels, Toulouse-Lautrec frequently visited cabarets in Paris’ Montmartre district, such as the Moulin Rouge. There, he associated with many courtesans – call girls of a higher caliber. The Moulin Rouge actually reserved a table for him every night, and displayed his paintings. He also enjoyed checking out the theater, circus, and dance halls, in the company of his paid company.
