Lautrec [antikvár]

On the Promenade des Anglais. i8yg. Walercolour. Private Collection. Looking back upon my youth, I can still picture quite vividly the deformed shape of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, as I used to see it in the streets of Albi when the painter came over for the holidays to rest and visit his family in the house where he had been born. Count Alphonse, the artist's father, was himself an especially original figure in Albi. One would frequently meet him in town; he would be in eccentric array, holding his favorite hawk on his closed fist; for this aristocrat was a fervent hunter and one of the last devotees of hawking. His freakish outbursts would delight us children, especially when he invited us to participate. I can still picture him as he came one day to meet us when we were leaving the Lycée, carrying on his broad shoulders a load of graceful and frail Japanese kites which he suggested we try flying around the Cathedral Sainte-Cécile in order to get them as high as the steeple. We were always sure to find the Count around the booths when there was a fair going on; or near the circus or the menageries. Fascinated by animals he would hastily sketch their movements which he later interpreted in clay, for he tried modelling when he felt like it. He associated with all the artists from the circus and would soon become friendly with them, and went so far as to advise them. One evening he even was the unexpected star of the show given by the Bureau circus in our town. The director's very young daughter was taking her first steps in equestrian acrobatics, safely secured by a rope which her father held; he was ready to jump to her rescue in case 5