303 - TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (Henri de), 1864–1901.

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC (Henri de), 1864–1901. Autograph letter signed “Henri,” undated [August 1880], 2 pp., in-8, to his maternal grandmother and godmother, Louise Tapié de Céleyran. A charming letter from the young Lautrec, then aged 15, as Saint Louis’s Day approaches and he plans to visit his grandmother to celebrate: “”I hope to see you appear one of these mornings in the Costatoire carriage, followed or preceded at short intervals by the whole clan. We’ll have Uncle Amédée to ourselves (during the night; the rest of the day will be spent hunting, starting tomorrow or the day after.” He concludes by kissing her “obelisk-strongly.” This letter accompanies a handwritten letter from his mother, Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec, “Adèle,” Le Bosc, August 22, 1880, also addressed to his mother. She sends her holiday greetings and shares plenty of family news, including an amusing anecdote about her son Henri and his dog chasing the chickens. Together, these letters paint a very vivid portrait of the Toulouse-Lautrec “clan” on the eve of Saint Louis Day in 1880. On one hand, there is the teenager Henri, who is already displaying all his verve and imagination. On the other, his mother Adèle, who shares plenty of news about everyone and brings to life the entire household at the large family estate in Le Bosc. Includes its former cultural property export certificate from the Ministry of Culture and the original entry from the Charavay catalog, no. 44483.