Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is best known as a chronicler of the nightlife of late 19th century Paris. He used to frequent the nightclubs and cafés of Montmartre, befriending the dancers and prostitutes, making countless sketches as they comb their hair or just lie in bed. Toulouse-Lautrec did not picture the world of the dancers and prostitutes from outside: he just lived in that world. With only a few pencil strokes Toulouse-Lautrec renders a mood and a character. His dancers appear from a few twirls and swirls. He does not draw the dancer, but the motions. His lithographs and sketches of Loie Fuller consist of little more than abstract shapes, in which we can barely detect a head and a pair of legs. After a life of enormous productivity (more than 1, 000 paintings, 5, 000 drawings, and 350 prints and posters), debauchery, and alcoholism, Toulouse-Lautrec suffered a mental and physical collapse and died at the age of 37.
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