Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec lived in a whorehouse, spent his evenings in
lesbian bars, was confined to a mental hospital for alcohol depression,
suffered from syphilis, and was crippled due to a fracture of both
his thigh bones in his early teens which did not heal properly due a
genetic bone disease. His parents were u first cousins,
leaving Henri to inherit several genetic disorders that would plague him his
whole life. Physically
unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men
of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art. He became an
important
painter, illustrator, and
and recorded in his works many details of the late-19th century
bohemian lifestyle in Paris. He was
also a great gourmand, wine expert, and
possibly the wittiest man in Paris. More than any other artist, Toulouse-Lautrec portrayed truth, a truth
without comment or moral judgment. The whores, lesbians, dancers, and
jockeys who the artist drew were never whores, lesbians, dancers or jockeys;
they were just people captured in the moment without eroticism and without
social commentary.
.
Perhaps his greatest influence came from the
neighborhood his first studio was in: the infamous Montmartre district,
bohemia-central for Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec spiraled into hopeless
alcoholism, leading to outrageous drunken behavior where his physical
appearance and ever-present sketchbook made him very recognizable.
Lautrec loved to cook and 197 of his recipes,
were copied by his closest friend and dealer, Maurice Joyant, have been
published in French (Edita Lausann) illustrated with
Toulouse-Lautrec's drawings, including the menus he drew for his own gourmet
meals. Many of Lautrec's recipes were variations on classic dishes,
and he had a taste for for the exotic: eel liver, fried octopus, roast
boar,a nd sautéed squirrel ). Always the wit, his
recipe for leg of lamb, required "a glacier like the Wildstrubel.
Kill a young lamb from the high Alps at around 3,000 meters, during
September. Cut out the leg and let it hang for three or four weeks. It
should be eaten raw with horse-radish." His favorite recipe was wood pigeon
with olives. When the great chef August Escoffier was chef de cuisine
at the Moulin Rouge, he created Perdue a la Lautrec (Partridge
Lautrec) for the artist which is our selection to celebrate
Henri's birthday.
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