Book excerpt: In his short and eventful life Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) scandalised the conservative establishment of arts and letters with the subject matter of his paintings and lithographs He was part of the avant-garde whose work provoked and fascinated, and he became one of the most representative artists of a turbulent and artistically abundant period. Lautrec defies classification in any of the well-known movements of his age, but his art, so much of hsi time, is clearly for all time....