Last October I gave a talk on how disability culture and identity impacted Henri Toulouse-Lautrec at the de Young Museum. It was for the Disability Open House. We chose Toulouse-Lautrec because the museum was exhibiting “Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay.” There were three pieces by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec in the show. When I saw the paintings rather than reproductions I got an appreciation for how tender his disability engendered gaze could be.
Here’s an MP3 of the talk, if you’re interested.