Book Description

Collected here for the first time in a full edition, the letters of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) offer an opportunity to assess this major artist and his work. This edition brings together all the known extant correspondence collected by Herbert Schimmel and others, including 619 letters by Toulouse-Lautrec and a selection of relevant documents and letters by individuals close to him. Providing amusing and poignant insights into Toulouse-Lautrec both as a personality and a professional, the letters are rich in factual data, and contain numerous art historical revelations. Spanning his entire life, the letters trace Toulouse-Lautrec's artistic development from the bright optimism of his conventional, aristocratic childhood, through the years when he was an avant-garde artist at the height of his powers, to his tragic deterioration, breakdown, and early death.