Painter. He was a prolific French painter of the 19th century, who was accomplished as a printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose was immersed in the colorful and theatrical life of Paris. Born in the town of Albi, in the south of France, he was the last in a long line of aristocrats and would have become the Count of Toulouse, if he had not died before his father. Born Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec Monfa, the only surviving son in his household, his parents were first cousins. His diminutive height of 4 feet and 11 inches, which caused him much psychological pain throughout his life, was the result of a hereditary abnormality that prevented his legs from growing after the left femur was broken at age 13 and the right at age 14. Having to use a cane to ambulate, he was often ridiculed for his painful deformity. In modern-day medicine, this condition is called pycnodysostosis or Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome. A poor diet lacking in vitamin D also caused rickets, which resulted in his bones breaking easily. To add to his psychological pain, he is also reported to have had hypertrophied genitals. About 1882, he moved to Paris to pursue his education and career in art, studying under well-known artists including Vincent van Gogh. Settling in the low-rent haven area known as Montmartre, his life became nightclubs, brothels, bars, and racetracks. He quickly became immersed in the Bohemian lifestyle of the times, and soon became addicted to alcohol and absinthe. In an era when the wild Parisian nightlife was the rage, he was a lover of the nightlife and could be found regularly at the cafes and dancehalls, in particular the Moulin Rouge, where he made many friends among the artists and can-can dancers. Through all his carousing, he continued to sketch and paint prolifically, choosing as his subjects the people and places of the Parisian cabaret scene. He is credited with inventing the Art-Poster, with his quick drawings and paintings on paper, depicting his view of life in Paris. His posters had a Japanese resemblance about them. Unlike many other painters, he enjoyed a good deal of success during his brief lifetime, with gallery exhibitions and many commissions, as well as a certain fame as the archetypical Bohemian artist. He was commissioned for portraits, advertisements, and book illustrations. Alcoholism, absinthe, syphilis, and his physical deformity all took their toll on his health. He went through a bout of delirium tremens in 1899. After detoxification at Folie St-James and a summer in the Gironde, he returned to Paris, only to fall back into his old lifestyle. When his health declined again, he returned home to Chateau de Malromé, where his mother owned a vineyard. Sometime after suffering what may have been a stroke, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec died at the Chateau on September 9, 1901 at the age of 36. He was buried near the Calvary Hill, in the cemetery at Verdelais. One of his most famous paintings is the 1897 "Woman before a Mirror," an oil-on-cardboard painting of a French prostitute wearing only black stockings standing facing a mirror. This painting is on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. During his short career, he produced 50 paintings of prostitutes. At his death, he had 737 canvas paintings, 275 watercolors, 363 prints and posters and over 5,000 drawings.