The Art Nouveau style has always captivated me with its elegant charm and whimsical beauty. The architecture, painting and sculptures in the style always have this sinuous, elongated and curvy lines that appear to imitate the imperfections of nature; the pieces are always uniquely disproportioned and asymmetrical to simulate the flawed beauty of the natural world. Architecture, furniture and jewelry is decorated with stylish flowers, leaves, roots, buds and seedpods are carelessly, yet intentionally, laced throughout the work. Art Nouveau paintings celebrate the female form by presenting them in a pre-Raphaelite pose with long, flowing hair and a curvy, yet delicate, silhouette. Exotic woods, marquetry, iridescent glass, silver and semi-precious stones adorn pieces to create the overly dramatic Art Nouveau style; all so Parisian, obviously, and just lovely in every way.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was an artist of the late 19th century whose art captured the Parisian nightlife of the period. His work was a true embodiment of Art Nouveau; an international style of decoration characterized by writhing plant forms and an opposition to the historicism which engulfed the early 19th century. His emphasis on artistic unity exemplified this new style of art where the illustrations were formed through eccentric fantasy and mystic themes.
Toulouse-Lautrec had unfortunate circumstances. Born in 1864 in Albi, France to an aristocrat family, Henri grew up amongst luxury. However grandeur the prospect of his future appeared, it was two broken legs by the age of 14 which would change the circumstances of Henri’s life forever; his bones failed to heal properly and by adulthood his legs stopped growing causing him to be abnormally short in stature. Deprived of any kind of normal live Toulouse-Lautrec lived wholly for his art. His works encompassed the heart of the cabaret entertainment and bohemian life in the Montmartre section of Paris.
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