Toulouse-Lautrec and the Fin De Siecle

by David Sweetman

Book Overview

This text offers a fresh look at the artist Toulouse-Lautrec's life and art in order to reveal the true Lautrec - one surprisingly linked to the political and social movements of this time. David... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340751975
• ISBN13: 9780340751978
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Hodder Hb
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wide-ranging and fascinating biography

Written by an art historian, this biography gives enlightening assessments of Lautrec's artistic development, within the context of his family, upbringing, artistic education in Paris, and his fascinating, if increasingly dissipated, life in Montmartre. This is extremely well written, with lively anecdotes and details about Lautrec and all of his significant family and friends. It is the single best book about the artist that I have read. The tone of this biography is just right: clearly admiring, but never uncritical or less than honest about a creative genius whose life spun out of control. This is not just a biography, but a rich experience of the art world and a wide variety of people within the society and culture of late 19th century Paris. I thoroughly loved this book!

A Wide Ranging, Well Considered Biography

Sweetman's book is the single best piece of media on Lautrec I have consumed, including Huston's limited, one-sided biopic and Baz Lurmann's modern musical piece of trash. Sweetman dwells deeply on the political and cultural aspects of Lautrec's work, including his friendships with writer/critic/mad anarchist bomber Felix Feneon and performer/painter/demimonde Suzanne Valadon. Sweetman's text helps the reader achieve a deeper, more rounded understanding of Lautrec's painting in the context of its day. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the artist's life and work.

Great read for biography lovers or fans of Toulouse-Lautrec

Excellent and engaging, though it covers a very wide scope. Be forewarned, though...it is the same as "Explosive Acts" by the same author...just a different title!