Toulouse-Lautrec birthday

I didn't know it at the time -- the great painter was attracted to redheads.

But in a dream of a lifetime experience, I discovered a painting I'd never seen by the French genius Toulouse-Lautrec. You barely saw the face of the red-headed woman. She stood simply; her head turned away from the viewer. Nothing distinguished her surroundings. Her clothing -- unlike so much over-the-top costuming in the artist's Moulin Rouge posters -- is simple, a white long-sleeve shirt. But my connection to her on a human level was immediate. I'd promenade to other paintings, but every three or four canvases later, I'd return to the redhead.

I'm still wracking my brain to remember where or when I saw her. Perhaps an exhibit of the French Impressionists at the Norton Museum (West Palm Beach, FL). Oh, of course! It was that fabulous, overwhelming visit to the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

Rosa La Rouge is part of my life now; she's the image that comes to mind when I think of Toulouse-Lautrec nowadays. His "noisier," livelier things -- the splashy posters and eye-catching graphic arts -- were my first introduction. But his silent portrait says so much more.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born on this day: Nov. 24, 1864, in Albi, France. He died in Bordeaux on Sept. 9, 1901.

"A Montrouge" - Rosa La Rouge (1886-87), Oil on canvas

28 1/2 x 19 1/4 in. (72.3 x 49 cm)
Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania