Search - Toulouse-Lautrec (The Post-Impressionists) on DVD

The Famous Poster Maker

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 11/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought Henri was a little person since birth. However, this work says two falls stunted the growth of his knees. They never mention whether he faced discrimination as a short man. The work states that he came from a wealthy family, but it does not state that his parents were first cousins.

Henri's work stands out among famous painters of groups of humans in this his subjects were actual people. It's art that is almost biographical. The descendants of these can-can dancers (if they had any) may want to obtain these prints of their ancestors. I learned what "La Goulue" means ("the glutton") without having to find and search through my English-French dictionary. The work says Henri painted circus scenes to show asylum administrators that he was not insane. Some artists paint in order to live; Henri painted for survival and to be free at that point.

The series' installment on Gauguin never stated from whom he caught syphilis. This work however shows Henri's portrait of the woman who gave it to him. I swear I've seen a photograph of Henri standing up naked in a boat, but the work doesn't include that here. The work never says why so many of his female figures were redheaded.

The installments in the series usually have 4 interviewees. This one only had two. One interviewee has a squeaky, mousy voice that may grate on your nerves."