Born on November 24, 1864, in Albi, France, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a painter and poster artist known for works like ‘The Streetwalker’ and ‘At the Moulin Rouge’.
He became famous for his posters and innovations in lithograph drawing. Toulouse-Lautrec was the first artist who elevated advertising to a fine art, by designing the Moulin Rouge’s legendary posters.
He was an aristocrat, dwarf, and party animal who invented a cocktail called the Earthquake (half absinthe, half cognac).
Consumed by heavy drinking and suffering from various illnesses, he died on September 9, 1901, at the age of 36.
In a 2005 auction at Christie’s, ‘La Blanchisseuse’, his early painting of a young laundress, sold for 22.4 million US$ and set a new record for the artist’s works.
