Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created over 6000 pieces of art throughout the short 20 years of his career. His work consisted of many different types of mediums such as canvas, watercolor, print, posters, drawings, ceramic and even glass work. Typically, his art portrayed people or groups of people in their natural working environment. He specifically enjoyed capturing groups of people enjoying the 19^th century festive Parisian nightlife, particularly at Le Moulin Rouge. In one of his paintings, entitled “La Goulue and Valentine Le Desosse” Toulouse-Lautrec depicts the Parisian nightlife through a dancing scene at the Moulin Rouge. As the title of the painting implies, the two main figures dancing in his piece are La Goulue and Valentine Le Desosse. Upon researching this particular piece of art, I came to realize that La Goulue is actually just the stage name for the French cancan dancer Louise Weber.  Valentine Le Desosse was also another stage name for Jacques Renaudin, a wine merchant who enjoyed dancing in his spare time. Louise and Jacques enjoyed dancing together at the newly opened Moulin Rouge and became instant stars. Louise however, stole the show with her outrageous and captivating performances and quickly became one of the highest paid entertainers of her time. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec targets the members of the Parisian night life by painting images of popular performers in a renowned setting like Le Moulin Rouge. The way that Toulouse-Lautrec portrays this painting shows that he has a great appreciation for La Goulue, Valentine le Desosse and the fascinating night life of the people of Paris.