Saturday, December 09, 2006

I Have Heard The Absinthe Singing




Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) - At The Moulin Rouge, 1892


"Of course, one should not drink much - but often."

"I paint things as they are. I don't comment. I record."

"These people annoy me. They want me to finish things. But I see them in such a way and paint them accordingly. Look, it is easy to finish things . . . Nothing is simpler than to complete pictures in a superficial sense. Never does one lie so cleverly as then."

"In our time there are many artists who do something because it is new. They see their value and their justification in this newness. They are deceiving themselves. Novelty is seldom the essential. This has to do with only one thing - making a subject better from its intrinsic nature."

"I had placed my stick on the table, as I do every evening. It had been especially made to suit my height, to enable me to walk without much difficulty. As I was standing to get up, a customer called to me: 'Monsieur, don't forget your pencil.' It was very unkind, but most funny."

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec