Toulouse-Lautrec: Scenes of the Night

by Claire Frèches, José Frèches

This compassionate narrative combines with reminiscences of the artist's friends to vividly evoke Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's tragic, bohemian life. Sumptuous reproductions of paintings, prints, and drawings show why his artistic influence was so great. 227 illustrations, many in full color. Bibliography. Index.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 1994

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toulouse-Lautrec was the Tyrion Lannister of the fin de siecle art world: an alcoholic dwarf who eschewed his aristocratic family roots to hang out in brothels and create splendid works of art.
I've always been a big fan of his work but have never been a big fan of reading about artists that I respect, because they usually end up being officious pricks that I'd never associate with in real life. Not so T-L. A drunkard who dressed up as samurai and swami, who bartended artsy-fartsy soirees and served people insidiously spiked drinks, who moved into brothels for months at a time to save himself the trip, and, most importantly, chronicler in art of the seedy side of life. He preferred using prostitutes as models and saw the artistic culture of the time, the artes-concertes, as mere backdrop to his depiction of the ragged individual.
The book itself is brief, but enough. Perhaps lacking a bit in the more inwards side of T-L, but with a healthy dose of contemporary accounts of him by friends and foes alike. You get a good sense of his zany, incongruous nature, in life as well as art.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toulouse-Lautrec is one of my favourite artists, and I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read more about his background and history, and I especially enjoyed when they showed sketches in addition to completed works. Tons of photos of his work be it paintings, illustrations or posters.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise overview of the major life events of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the influential people and places from his life story which impacted his art. Reproductions of the artist’s work are included although not all are easy to see due to the layout of the book.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit on the slight side...but fairly fulfilling nonetheless.

[July · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small book with lots of pictures that tells the story of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec who was born a noble. He had a tragic accident that broke his left thigh bone in 1878 at thirteen years old. But Henri was small he only looked ten at the time. A year later he broke his right thigh bone, after that he was an invalid. His father Comte Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec liked hunting and falconry which Henri could not be apart of. Henri turned to art with the help of his mother. Henri's mother will support him. In 1886 he even paints Van Gogh who he had become friendly with.
The story is tragic though. It has letters from Henri to his mom. A sad story..

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short book about his life, with lots of pictures and artwork, along with letters and other documents. I hadn't realized he died so young.

[K.M. Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Beautiful