Measuring in at a whopping 5 foot, this little dude could paint, and print, and illustrate, and pretty much create the image of hazy sensuality. Even through a fog of alcoholism and the syph (did I mention the long genetic history of inbreeding?) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was able to paint the bohemian experience of late 1800's Paris. You gotta love it! The stories surrounding this artist are....well....a bit on the wild side: cabarets, theaters, brothels, voyeurism, booze, lesbians, prostitutes, mistresses, and ultimately a stay in a sanatorium before croaking at the ripe old age of 37 (Hey! I'm 37!) What a guy! It is no wonder I that of all the paintings in the colossal Getty Museum in Los Angeles the one that knocked me over was by him.The Model Resting (1889) is just two paintings over from the famous Degas pastel, Waiting (1882), yet carries so much more than any Degas I have ever seen. I was mitten, mesmerized, and just flat-out WOW'ed. I had to sit and stare.
Is there any wonder why I would pick The Model Resting as my 2007 Painting of the Year?
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