TOULOUSE-LAUTREC HENRI DE: (1864-1901) French painter and illustrator. A.L.S., Henri, four pages, 8vo, n.p. (Paris), n.d. (mid-March 1891), to his mother ('Ma chere Maman'), in French. The artist writes, in full, 'je suis très occupé en ce moment, par le coup de feu de l'exposition. Les ouvrages devant être livrés samedi au plus tard. Ce que vous me dites sur la jeune fille chic me laisse froid car c'est une bêtise de plus à l'actif de l'auteur de cette pensée, la jeune fille en question n'etant qu'une grue, porteuse de pain d'antan. J'espère d'ailleurs vous voir peindre ces jours-ci. Apportez-moi, je vous prie, [le] miroir de style don't vous m'avez parlé. J'espère qu'il trouvera sa place dans le nouvel appartement. Bonnefoy est rentré au Crédit lyonnais, et Louis, bien qu'à la veille d'être casé, ne l'est pas encore. Adieu, my dear, embrassez mémères et autres ornements de notre arbre généalogiques, et croyez-moi yours' (Translation: 'I am very busy right now, by the shot of the exhibition. The works to be delivered Saturday at the latest. What you tell me about the chic girl leaves me cold because it's one more stupidity to the credit of the author of this thought, the young girl in question being only a crane, carrier of bread of yesteryear. I hope to see you painting these days. Bring me, please, [the] style mirror you told me about. I hope he finds his place in the new apartment. Bonnefoy returned to Credit Lyonnais, and Louis, although on the eve of being laid off, is not yet. Farewell, my dear, kiss grandma and other ornaments of our family tree, and believe me, yours'). Some very light, minor age wear and a couple of small, neat splits to the upper and lower edges of the vertical central fold, otherwise VG

The present letter was written whilst Toulouse-Lautrec was preparing to exhibit at the seventh Salon des Independants, which would open on 20^th March.

Toulouse-Lautrec makes reference to his friend Gaston Bonnefoy, who posed for the artist in 1891, as well as his second cousin, Louis Pascal, also the subject of an oil painting in the same year. Toulose-Lautrec valued the company of Pascal, as well as that of his mistress. Pascal had been a fellow art student at the Lycée Fontane in Paris although would later become an insurance broker. When Pascal and his family got into financial difficulties in the summer of 1892 they were supported by the Lautrecs.