This account of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec strips away the mythology to look afresh at his achievements both as a graphic artist and as a painter. It revitalizes and adds depth to the well-known images, while a wealth of contemporary material - correspondence, reviews, anecdotes and reminiscences - sheds new light on the challenges that faced Lautrec. Bernard Denvir examines all the major influences on his life and work: the eccentricities and instabilities of his aristocratic background; the indignities of his handicaps; his education and artistic training; the theatres, bars, cafes and brothels to which he increasingly gravitated; and the political and social unease of late nineteenth-century France.