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The well-known painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a symbol of a certain period in the history of Paris - the frivolous time of Montmartre, of pleasure palaces and the fin de siecle that he represents so well. Jane Avril, la Goulue, Aristide Bruant, Yvette Guilbert, and the Moulin Rouge entered history through his works. Yet this restrictive vision of Toulouse-Lautrec is only part of what this great painter left behind, and Jean-Jacques Leveque shows here that the artist was an essential actor in his time, and that, to better understand his work, one needs to examine his relations with the bourgeois society of the l9th century, his intellectual atavism and his infirmity. He also shows that this outstanding portraitist was a forerunner of Expressionism, through his bold, brutal style, and this existential conscience that would dominate 20th-century art, from Giacometti to Francis Bacon. Close to his models, yet merciless and devoid of flattery, he pushed his vision to the limit of caricature. In contrast to society portraits, very popular at the time, he presented subjects with so much detail that they were almost intolerable. Behind the world of glitter, music and pantomime that he depicted with vigor and grace, he examined the pessimistic conscience of the human condition. He was, to this fin de siecle, what Watteau and Fragonard were to the l8th century: a painter who, beyond appearances, revealed the deep soul of human nature. ... Read more

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• Award-winning author Mike Resnick weaves a story of despair and hope in Montmartre
• Author’s first story outside the science-fiction genre
• Compelling story of overcoming obstacles

At the cabarets and brothels of Montmartre, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a well-known visitor. Brilliant, rich, and deformed, Toulouse-Lautrec carries on flirtations and relationships with many women—prostitutes as well as famous singers and dancers. In A Club in Montmartre, renowned writer Mike Resnick imagines the lonely artist meeting a starving waif, Dany, at the famous Moulin Rouge. Dany, like so many before her, falls under the spell of the dissolute can-can dancer known as La Goulue. Toulouse-Lautrec wages a Faustian battle with La Goulue for the young girl’s soul even as he is losing the battle for his own, slipping deeper and deeper into alcoholism and bitterness. This deeply felt story, Resnick’s first in a genre other than science fiction, captures the intensity of a genius caught between his limitations and his aspirations. ... Read more

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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. ... Read more