Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s talent – and troubles – were larger than life

Taking 170 works from the Museum of Arts in Budapest, Ara Pacis in Rome has produced a major exhibition on the painter-bohemian Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, of the late nineteenth century. It traces the artist’s life, and his rather premature death at only 36 years of age. The exhibition, organized by Zetema, contains a broad spectrum of this artist’s work: posters, illustrations, sheets, music covers and posters. Some are rarities because they are printed in limited editions; signed, numbered and accompanied by the dedication of the artist. The five sections of the exhibition cover the interests of the artist: the Parisian nightlife, with brothels and theaters of Montmartre; the actresses in vogue at the time, the famous can-can dancer La Gouloue, the horse races at Longchamp and new inventions. The peculiarity of his art, unlike his contemporaries, is his using as a subject people, the proletariat and their entertainment. And this was utterly fascinating for the French bourgeoisie. They are representations of moments of everyday life that give effects to great immediacy. They earned him commissions for advertising, posters for plays, ballets and shows, as well as illustrations for magazines.