Henri de Toulouse-LautrecHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec was undoubtedly the greatest graphic artist of his time; he is best remembered for his bold and colorful posters of Parisian entertainers. He spent his childhood years in the family castle in southwestern France, where he broke both legs and thus stunted his growth. This left him disproportionate and dwarf. This unfortunate event probably helped his artistic abilities as he spent most of his time alone. Lautrec reached his peak as a painter and poster artist in the early 1890s, at the time of the Post Impressionists. During his lifetime Lautrec felt most at home in the nightclubs, ballrooms and brothels of Paris. The restricted life he led is clearly shown in the art he produced. Lautrec was most famous for his paintings of the Moulin Rouge and other Parisian entertainers. Lautrec was not the first artist to make Parisian entertainers serious subjects to paint, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas were among the first to paint Parisian nightlife and others soon followed their example such as Lautrec. it was never messy or distracted. He was indeed a devoted craftsman who was very knowledgeable about the technical issues of his work, especially engraving. Even after a hard night he was able to supervise the printing of his lithographs at an early hour. Lautrec always carried a small sketchbook with him so he could quickly draw or sketch whatever caught his attention, and today thousands of his quick drawings still survive in the original sketchbooks. He also achieved the exalted position of a dead artist where there is a museum dedicated to him and his work in Albi, France, near where he was born, near Toulouse. In the actual paintings of his sketches he tried to maintain the spontaneity of the first sketch and therefore liked to work quickly. To work quickly he liked to use paint heavily diluted with turpentine, which was called peinture a l'essence, which allowed him the so-called 'drawing with the brush'. He also liked to use absorbent cardboard instead of canvas so that the paint would dry faster and therefore could maintain its momentum. Most painters have a characteristic technique and Lautrec's hallmark was the etching technique called 'crachis' or... paper medium... ...because before this addition the painting had to be a sober and balanced. The unidentified redhead sitting at the table is wearing an exotic headdress that stands out beautifully against her red hair. If you look at each person, each has a distinctive hat or hairstyle as Lautrec was fascinated by different styles of headgear. The mirrored background lining the walls gives the painting an undefined backdrop, so the silhouetted figures stand out boldly in the mirror. I liked this painting because it shows the somewhat quiet atmosphere of the normally crowded Moulin Rouge. I was also attracted to the way Lautrec contrasted the brightly colored woman and redhead in the foreground of the painting with the blacks and browns in the background. I also admired the way Lautrec maintained spontaneity throughout his work. My favorite painting of the two I talked about is "At the Moulin Rouge" because I think this seems more difficult to paint than "At the Circus Fernando" as it is. in more detail and most importantly I think it looks better. But don't take anything away from "Al Circo Fernando" as this too is a brilliant work of art.