North of Albi lies Château du Bosc, the country retreat of Toulouse-Lautrec's aristocratic family. The medieval château accepts visitors and features items that recall the artist's childhood, including marks on the wall where Henri's height was recorded. They stop in 1882, when Henri was 18 years old and less than five feet tall thanks to health problems that affected his growth.
Due to these health problems, the young Henri would often visit the thermal baths at Amélie-les-Bains. See www.tourisme-amelie.com for more information.
For more on visiting Albi, see Paul Wade's guide, written for Telegraph Travel.
Posters at The Musée Toulouse-Lautrec
Paris
Toulouse-Lautrec moved to Paris at the age of eight. Due to his physical disability he could not take part in sports, so instead immersed himself in art.
During a brief stay in Nice he was spotted by René Princeteau and persuaded to study under the tutelage of portrait painter Léon Bonnat. Bonnat's studio was in the heart of Montmartre. Here Toulouse-Lautrec met artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Emile Bernard and became fascinated by the district's bohemian and somewhat tawdry entertainment industry. He would paint dancehalls and nightclubs, revellers and prostitutes, as well as the posters for venues such as the Moulin Rouge for which he is perhaps best known.
Montmartre, our Paris expert Natasha Edwards explains, doesn't really qualify as an artist's district anymore, but is a very picturesque area to walk around if you don't mind all the steps - and there are certainly plenty of street painters ready to do your portrait.
'The large studio windows show that many buildings used to be artists' studios, when Impressionist painters flocked here at the end of the 19th century,' she adds. 'You can see where Picasso invented Cubism when he had a studio at the Bateau Lavoir on place Émile-Goudeau, or the Musée de Montmartre on rue Cortot, where Suzanne Valadon and her son Maurice Utrillo had studios in the pavilion at the entrance.' Paris Walks ( paris-walks.com) does a guided walk in English around the district every Wednesday morning.
The Moulin Rouge on Boulevard de Clichy is still going strong, however, and recently celebrated its 125th birthday - though it is little more than a tourist trap these days, with tickets costing in excess of 100 euros. Les Ambassadeurs is currently closed for refurbishment (it will reopen in 2015); Le Chat Noir is long gone.
His work can be seen in the Musée d'Orsay.
The Moulin Rouge on Boulevard de Clichy is still going strong
London
Toulouse-Lautrec spent time in London, where he met and befriended Oscar Wilde. He even created a publicity poster for the English bicycle chain manufacturer Simpson Chain.
The Brasserie Toulouse-Loutrec ( www.brasserietoulouselautrec.co.uk) - a restaurant and music venue in Kennington - pays homage to the artist's time in the capital.
At least two galleries in the capital own works by Toulouse-Loutrec. There are a host of posters at the V&A (some, such as Divan Japonais, are on public display but most are in the Prints & Drawings study room - viewings must be booked in advance). The National Gallery has three paintings - Emile Bernard (1886), The Two Friends (1894) and Woman Seated in a Garden (1891) - however, they are currently on loan to the Musee d'Orsay and the Kunstforum Wien in Vienna.
Gironde, France
Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901, from complications due to alcoholism and syphilis, aged just 36. He died at the home of his mother - the Château Malromé in the department of Gironde. It is home to more than 40 hectares of vineyards and can be visited during the summer months or in winter by prior appointment. See www.malrome.com for more information.
The artist is buried in the town of Verdelais, a few miles down the road.
Where else to see his work
An exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York - The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters - runs until March 22, 2015. It is the first MoMA exhibition in 30 years dedicated solely to Lautrec, and features more than 100 of his best-known works created during the height of his career.
The Kunstforum Wien's exhibition Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The Path to Modernism runs until January 25, 2015.
The Van Gogh Museum houses a portrait of the Dutch artist by Toulouse-Lautrec.
His work can also be seen in the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the São Paulo Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Brooklyn Museum, Neue Pinakothek in Munich, Yale University Art Gallery, Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, Germany, and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.
What to drink
The Tremblement de Terre (or 'Earthquake') cocktail has been attributed to Toulouse-Lautrec. It's a heady blend of absinthe and cognac - served in a wine goblet. Head to one of London's best cocktail bars and see if they'll mix one for you.
Three Tremblement de Terres - hold the laudanum
Post By http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/11250414/Henri-de-Toulouse-Lautrec-on-the-trail-of-the-French-artist.html
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