Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Pioneer Urban Flâneur (draft)
< Henri de Toulose-Lautrec, Au Moulin Rouge , Art Institute of Chicago ( http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/61128 ) There is not doubt that Touluse-Lautrec was an urban flâneur. He was enamored with the street life, the cafes, the music halls and people of Paris during his lifetime. . He was not just an observer, but a participant. This painting, Au Moulin Rouge , as many of his, brings you into Lautrec’s world and the bourgeoisie society of Paris during the 1890s. In this painting he is criticizing the vanity of the upper Middle Class and its rigidity. His criticism of the vanity of women of this era is evident by the women primping, and posing, particularly prominent in the face of the women dominating the right of the painting. The table of men and women are not enjoying the occasion, but are notability somber, except for the insertion of Lautrec on the side of the painting, who appears ...
