Physically unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art. He became an important painter, illustrator, and and recorded in his works many details of the late-19th century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. He was also a great gourmand, wine expert, and possibly the wittiest man in Paris. More than any other artist, Toulouse-Lautrec portrayed truth, a truth without comment or moral judgment.  The whores, lesbians, dancers, and jockeys who the artist drew were never whores, lesbians, dancers or jockeys; they were just people captured in the moment without eroticism and without social commentary.
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Perhaps his greatest influence came from the neighborhood his first studio was in: the infamous Montmartre district, bohemia-central for Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec spiraled into hopeless alcoholism, leading to outrageous drunken behavior where his physical appearance and ever-present sketchbook made him very recognizable.

Lautrec loved to cook and 197 of his recipes, were copied by his closest friend and dealer, Maurice Joyant, have been published in French (Edita Lausann) illustrated with Toulouse-Lautrec's drawings, including the menus he drew for his own gourmet meals.  Many of Lautrec's recipes were variations on classic dishes, and he had a taste for  for the exotic: eel liver, fried octopus, roast boar,a nd sautéed squirrel ). Always the wit,  his recipe for leg of lamb, required "a glacier like the Wildstrubel. Kill a young lamb from the high Alps at around 3,000 meters, during September. Cut out the leg and let it hang for three or four weeks. It should be eaten raw with horse-radish." His favorite recipe was wood pigeon with olives. When the great chef August Escoffier was chef de cuisine at the Moulin Rouge, he created Perdue a la Lautrec (Partridge Lautrec) for the artist which is our selection to celebrate Henri's birthday.