Friday May 17, 2019

Henri by Another Artist

Today’s main event is a visit to the Toulouse Lautrec Museum. He is another artist that we have heard of but do not know a lot about. Before we can go, I have to attend to the very important task of making sure my wife has a morning pastry and coffee. We walk to the covered market that we saw yesterday and check it out. There is a bakery inside so we get some chocolatines which is like a rectangular croissant with chocolate in it. Carol gets a cafe also as they have a small seating area for patrons. The chocolatines are very good so we buy more for tomorrow’s breakfast. My wife is now happy so we walk the short distance to the museum which is just opening up.

Toulouse’s Mother

Mr. Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was born here in 1864 and was crippled from youth. He broke his right leg at 13 and his left a year later, most likely from a genetic disorder. His lower half of his body stopped growing and his father abandoned him. He lived on the fringe of society which is why his paintings focused on the Parisian underclass of bars, cabarets, and houses of ill repute. The first room is filled with paintings of Henri painted by other artists who knew him. We also see early portraits he did of his family and friends.

On Cardboard

In 1882, Henri moved to Paris and we see his work develop and his colors merge with the down and dirty street life. In the 1890’s, he started making money by selling illustrations to magazines and newspapers. He also started regularly visiting brothels. The prostitutes accepted him as he was and his paintings of them shows them as real humans, as he had respect and empathy for them.

Sketched First than Painted

What is interesting is that he made sketches of many of his subjects and art before he painted them. There are many displays that show both versions of a scene, the quick sketch, often done in pastel and on cardboard, and then the finished studio oil painting. You can see some of the subtle changes of color or form in the side by side displays.

Advertisement Phase

We move on to another section of the museum which covers his famous advertising posters. This is where he made his living and also part of the reason why his artistic work was not taken seriously in those days. It was probably beneath the bourgeoisie of society. Henri was not a happy man and became an alcoholic. When loved ones had him put in a psychiatric hospital to try and help him, he used a hollowed out cane to store his booze. Some friends would bring him booze, usually hallucinogenic absinthe, which he would restock his cane with and continue his drinking.

Paris Life

He died young in his mothers home at the age of 37. The art world did not mourn and the art establishment actually had obituaries which said good riddance to his ugly art. His mother and his best friend kept all his art and offered it to the Louvre but they turned it down. In 1922, twenty one years after his death the mayor of Albi accepted the collection and hung his work in the old Berbie archbishops palace where it sits today. Now he is recognized as a artistic master of his day.

Martyrdom of St Barthelemuy

We also check out a few rooms with work by another artist Georges La Tour and there is one sculpture of the martyr of Saint Barthelemuy that I really like. It shows his flesh being carved off him while he is alive. Our cruelty to other humans has a long ugly history that seems to continue today. We finish our visit right at noon when the museum closes for two hours so the workers can have lunch.

Lentils and Camembert

It is raining outside, so we revisit the covered market until it is time for our lunch reservation at Amboise. They have a set menu where your only choice is fish or meat with the entree and dessert decide by what they buy that day. We get one fish and one meat which is chicken. The entree is a lentil dish with greens and bread with warm Camembert on top. Very tasty.

Molten Chocolate and Chestnut Ice Cream

Dessert is something Carol can’t stand. Molten chocolate cake with chestnut ice cream on top. Somehow she manages to force it down. As it is raining, we just take a circuitous route back to the hotel to see some more of the interesting architecture. We relax at the hotel and digest our lunch. Later on, I go around the block to get a pizza for a take out dinner. It is made with emmantel cheese, a kind of Swiss, and maybe some mozzarella mixed in. They also place about five black olives on it and give me a packet of chili oil to put on if we want. It doesn’t take long to make and I am back in the room within 10 minutes. We have a bottle of wine I carried from Narbonne that has to be drank as I have a new rule of a one town limit on carrying a bottle of wine in my pack. We are two for two in liking our first couple of French towns. Hope it keeps up.

Expenses
Hotel Les Pasteliers. 62.64E
Chocolatines and cafe at Market 4.60E Cash
Lunch at Amboise 43E
Snack from Market 1.89E Cash
Pizza Dinner Valmy Pizza 7.50E Cash
Walked 3.5 Miles