Author Description

More than any other artist, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec epitomizes the spirit of Montmartre, the most colorful and vibrant quarter of Paris. Physically disabled since childhood, he was unable to participate in the typical pursuits of the aristocracy from which he came, preferring to find solace and inspiration in the brothels, theatres and cafes of Montmartre. A misfit among misfits, he produced countless paintings, drawings, and lithographs of the actresses, dancers and prostitutes he encountered. Toulouse-Lautrec: The Soul of Montmartre looks at the streets and buildings of the artist's quarter of Paris, recreating the atmosphere of glamour and depravity that fired his imagination. The book analyzes the artist's critical realism, and the methods he used to produce his famous paintings and drawings - and the posters for the cabarets, theatres and dance halls of Montmartre. Toulouse-Lautrec particularly favored color lithography, a technique he mastered to perfection, producing pictures of astonishing intensity and strength in this new medium. Reinhold Heller succeeds in capturing the essence of this fascinating process and in evoking a moving portrait of this famous artist.