Vive Montmartre! LbNA #21627 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Apr 22, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Elgin |
| County: | Kane |
| State: | Illinois |
| Boxes: | 2 |
| Planted by: | The Cottontails  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Blackwulf (2) |
| Last found: | Apr 12, 2008 |
| Status: | FFFFFaFFFFFFFFFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Apr 22, 2006 |
***THESE BOXES HAVE BEEN PULLED UNTIL WE CAN FIX AND REPLACE THEM WE ARE VERY SORRY FOR THE INCONVIENCE****
Voyageur Landing Forest Preserve
50 Airport Road / Elgin, IL
Voyageur Landing is located on Airport Road via Rt. 31, along the Fox River and below I-90 (the Northwest Tollway). Airport Road is between the Holiday Inn and Alexander’s Restaurant on the East side of Rt. 31. After turning onto Airport Road from Rt. 31, you will quickly come to another traffic signal. Turn Right to head South on Airport Road; follow this road around until you come to the park. The entrance to the park will be on your left. Once entering the park, follow the road all the way to the back of the park. Park in this little parking lot.
We recommend walking sticks for this hike as the trail has many ups and downs, some of which are fairly steep.
___________________________________________________________
This series creates the fifth masterpiece for our Masterpiece Series. This series is about the artist, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, and his life, as well as the artwork that he created. Toulouse Lautrec was a very prolific artist and created hundreds of pieces of artwork throughout his career. His body of work includes: numerous paintings, drawings, etchings, posters, 351 lithographs, 9 drypoint prints, and various illustrations for magazines. He developed his own style over time but was heavily influenced by Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Japanese woodblock prints. With such a large body of work, there are many pieces that stand out. We decided that since he is most famous for his posters and lithographs that we would use one of these as the inspiration for our stamp and the symbol for his body of work. We have chosen one of his lithographs of the French singer Jane Avril who performed in the infamous nightclub the Moulin Rouge.
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born on November 24, 1864, in the town of Albi in the South of France. He was the only son of an aristocratic and wealthy family, however, the child’s aristocratic stock did him much more harm than good. His father, Count Alphonse, was a handsome, yet notorious eccentric known for all kinds of unpredictable behavior: from washing his socks in the river (unheard of for an aristocrat) to galloping off to a hunt wearing outlandish costumes. Count Alphonse would disappear for long stretches of time. Henri never became close to him. Henri’s mother, the Countess, was overly devoted to her only child and liked to live quietly, the complete opposite to her husband. Henri’s parents were first cousins, and although Henri at first appeared to be a beautiful, healthy child, he had inherited a congenital weakness of the bones.
When Henri was 12, he fell from a chair and broke his left leg. When he was 14, he fell into a small ditch and broke his right leg. The bones did not heal correctly after either fall, and this stunted their growth. Henri’s body continued to grow and develop normally, but his legs remained the same size as they were when he suffered his injuries. He reached adulthood with a body of a normal sized man but with abnormally short legs. He was only 4 1/2 feet tall and was unable to have the physical life of a normal person, so he lived completely for his art. As he aged, his appearance grew more and more unusual. He grew a full beard, had thick lips and a bulbous nose. He had short-sighted eyes, so he wore glasses. He had a large head and an ill-proportioned body.
By 1885, Henri had discovered Montmartre, a village suburb in northern Paris, which was rapidly becoming a center of popular entertainment and a haven for artists. Henri wanted to work there, but his parents disapproved, and refused to give him the money to rent a studio. So he “left home” and moved in with Rene Grenier, a gentleman-painter. In 1886, Henri’s parents provided him with a big enough allowance to rent his own studio and share a flat with a medical student, Henri Bourges. Both the flat and the studio were in Montmartre, where the little artist with his bowler hat and walking stick had become a familiar sight, particularly at night. His life had settled into a regular routine of staying up late into the night drinking cocktails, talking, and drawing. During the day, he would sleep and then work furiously turning his drawings into beautiful paintings and litho prints. One of his favorite establishments to frequent was the Moulin Rouge, where he had become friends with the performers like Jane Avril, Yvette Guilbert, May Belfort, and La Goulou. His other favorite place to go was Le Chat Noir, where he had become friends with the owner, and actor, Aristide Bruant. Henri would often be commissioned to make posters to advertise these establishments, usually featuring the club’s famous performers.
By the 1890’s, Henri’s immersion to the night-life in Paris began to take its toll. He was drinking hard by now and had contracted syphilis. By the time he was 30, he was going downhill fast. His friend, Dr. Bourges, had married and moved out. Henri moved back in with his mother. While there, he let his medical treatments lapse. His druken behavior and his lifestyle caused tension with his wealthy family; his uncle even set fire to some of his cavases. His parents lowered his allowance and this forced him to have to work to earn his own living. In 1897, Henri had begun to suffer from hallucinations and would fire a pistol at imaginary spiders. He was committed to a sanitarium by his mother in 1899. The terror of being locked up for good seemed to spur him to a rapid recovery. He started drawing again, but the doctors were unsure if he was mentally well enough to be released. In an effort to prove that he had control of his mind, Henri did a series of drawings of the circus. Since he was in the sanitarium and had no access to the circus or pictures of a circus, these drawings were all done from memory, when he had gone to see a circus as a child. These drawings proved to the doctors that he was ready to be released. The Countess removed him from the sanitarium and brought him home. His cousin, Paul Viaud, was paid to supervise him at home. Viaud tried to distract Henri from his excessive lifestyle with holidays on the coast and visits to the opera, but his enthusiasm was too late. At age 36, Henri looked like an old man. In the summer of 1901, while at the beach, Henri collapsed. His mother took him back to their estate in Malrome, where he died on September 9, 1901.
As members of the Art Institute of Chicago, we had the opportunity to see the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit when it came to Chicago last year. We learned a lot about Henri and about the lifestyle of Montmartre. Mr. Cottontail loved his lithographs and decided that he wanted to pay tribute to this great artist. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec really re-invented poster art and gained a huge following through his advertisements. These stamps were designed to be stamped one right on top of the other to get the full effect of Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph. This 2-part style of stamping is very similar to the technique of lithography itself. The first stamp should be colored with Red, Mahogany, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, and Blue (markers are provided). The second stamp is meant to be Black (the stamp pad is provided). We hope that you enjoy your next art adventure.
___________________________________________________________
At the back of the parking lot, there is a gate that prevents you from traveling further. This gate points you to a trail that goes into the woods between two hills (each with a steep incline). Follow this trail.
Box #1 (Color):
At the natural barricade with stern warnings, take the small trail on your left. This trail leads uphill and and almost back the way you came to meet up with a more established trail along the ridge. Follow this new trail to your right. Continue to follow this trail through its ups and downs. Eventually you will come to a giant sleeping in your path. Check near his ankles for your first reward.
Box #2 (Black):
Continue to follow the trail. Another giant will block your path, but sadly he has no prize. Continue on your path. Eventually you will come to a point where there is a large tree growing out of the path, impeding your forward progress. Turn around and look back towards the path. On the left-hand side of the path you will see a pair of trees that are working hard to hold up the ridge with their toes. You will have to move off the path and downhill a little to be able to access these trees. Look between the toes of the left-hand tree.
Voyageur Landing Forest Preserve
50 Airport Road / Elgin, IL
Voyageur Landing is located on Airport Road via Rt. 31, along the Fox River and below I-90 (the Northwest Tollway). Airport Road is between the Holiday Inn and Alexander’s Restaurant on the East side of Rt. 31. After turning onto Airport Road from Rt. 31, you will quickly come to another traffic signal. Turn Right to head South on Airport Road; follow this road around until you come to the park. The entrance to the park will be on your left. Once entering the park, follow the road all the way to the back of the park. Park in this little parking lot.
We recommend walking sticks for this hike as the trail has many ups and downs, some of which are fairly steep.
___________________________________________________________
This series creates the fifth masterpiece for our Masterpiece Series. This series is about the artist, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, and his life, as well as the artwork that he created. Toulouse Lautrec was a very prolific artist and created hundreds of pieces of artwork throughout his career. His body of work includes: numerous paintings, drawings, etchings, posters, 351 lithographs, 9 drypoint prints, and various illustrations for magazines. He developed his own style over time but was heavily influenced by Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, and Japanese woodblock prints. With such a large body of work, there are many pieces that stand out. We decided that since he is most famous for his posters and lithographs that we would use one of these as the inspiration for our stamp and the symbol for his body of work. We have chosen one of his lithographs of the French singer Jane Avril who performed in the infamous nightclub the Moulin Rouge.
Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born on November 24, 1864, in the town of Albi in the South of France. He was the only son of an aristocratic and wealthy family, however, the child’s aristocratic stock did him much more harm than good. His father, Count Alphonse, was a handsome, yet notorious eccentric known for all kinds of unpredictable behavior: from washing his socks in the river (unheard of for an aristocrat) to galloping off to a hunt wearing outlandish costumes. Count Alphonse would disappear for long stretches of time. Henri never became close to him. Henri’s mother, the Countess, was overly devoted to her only child and liked to live quietly, the complete opposite to her husband. Henri’s parents were first cousins, and although Henri at first appeared to be a beautiful, healthy child, he had inherited a congenital weakness of the bones.
When Henri was 12, he fell from a chair and broke his left leg. When he was 14, he fell into a small ditch and broke his right leg. The bones did not heal correctly after either fall, and this stunted their growth. Henri’s body continued to grow and develop normally, but his legs remained the same size as they were when he suffered his injuries. He reached adulthood with a body of a normal sized man but with abnormally short legs. He was only 4 1/2 feet tall and was unable to have the physical life of a normal person, so he lived completely for his art. As he aged, his appearance grew more and more unusual. He grew a full beard, had thick lips and a bulbous nose. He had short-sighted eyes, so he wore glasses. He had a large head and an ill-proportioned body.
By 1885, Henri had discovered Montmartre, a village suburb in northern Paris, which was rapidly becoming a center of popular entertainment and a haven for artists. Henri wanted to work there, but his parents disapproved, and refused to give him the money to rent a studio. So he “left home” and moved in with Rene Grenier, a gentleman-painter. In 1886, Henri’s parents provided him with a big enough allowance to rent his own studio and share a flat with a medical student, Henri Bourges. Both the flat and the studio were in Montmartre, where the little artist with his bowler hat and walking stick had become a familiar sight, particularly at night. His life had settled into a regular routine of staying up late into the night drinking cocktails, talking, and drawing. During the day, he would sleep and then work furiously turning his drawings into beautiful paintings and litho prints. One of his favorite establishments to frequent was the Moulin Rouge, where he had become friends with the performers like Jane Avril, Yvette Guilbert, May Belfort, and La Goulou. His other favorite place to go was Le Chat Noir, where he had become friends with the owner, and actor, Aristide Bruant. Henri would often be commissioned to make posters to advertise these establishments, usually featuring the club’s famous performers.
By the 1890’s, Henri’s immersion to the night-life in Paris began to take its toll. He was drinking hard by now and had contracted syphilis. By the time he was 30, he was going downhill fast. His friend, Dr. Bourges, had married and moved out. Henri moved back in with his mother. While there, he let his medical treatments lapse. His druken behavior and his lifestyle caused tension with his wealthy family; his uncle even set fire to some of his cavases. His parents lowered his allowance and this forced him to have to work to earn his own living. In 1897, Henri had begun to suffer from hallucinations and would fire a pistol at imaginary spiders. He was committed to a sanitarium by his mother in 1899. The terror of being locked up for good seemed to spur him to a rapid recovery. He started drawing again, but the doctors were unsure if he was mentally well enough to be released. In an effort to prove that he had control of his mind, Henri did a series of drawings of the circus. Since he was in the sanitarium and had no access to the circus or pictures of a circus, these drawings were all done from memory, when he had gone to see a circus as a child. These drawings proved to the doctors that he was ready to be released. The Countess removed him from the sanitarium and brought him home. His cousin, Paul Viaud, was paid to supervise him at home. Viaud tried to distract Henri from his excessive lifestyle with holidays on the coast and visits to the opera, but his enthusiasm was too late. At age 36, Henri looked like an old man. In the summer of 1901, while at the beach, Henri collapsed. His mother took him back to their estate in Malrome, where he died on September 9, 1901.
As members of the Art Institute of Chicago, we had the opportunity to see the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit when it came to Chicago last year. We learned a lot about Henri and about the lifestyle of Montmartre. Mr. Cottontail loved his lithographs and decided that he wanted to pay tribute to this great artist. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec really re-invented poster art and gained a huge following through his advertisements. These stamps were designed to be stamped one right on top of the other to get the full effect of Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph. This 2-part style of stamping is very similar to the technique of lithography itself. The first stamp should be colored with Red, Mahogany, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, and Blue (markers are provided). The second stamp is meant to be Black (the stamp pad is provided). We hope that you enjoy your next art adventure.
___________________________________________________________
At the back of the parking lot, there is a gate that prevents you from traveling further. This gate points you to a trail that goes into the woods between two hills (each with a steep incline). Follow this trail.
Box #1 (Color):
At the natural barricade with stern warnings, take the small trail on your left. This trail leads uphill and and almost back the way you came to meet up with a more established trail along the ridge. Follow this new trail to your right. Continue to follow this trail through its ups and downs. Eventually you will come to a giant sleeping in your path. Check near his ankles for your first reward.
Box #2 (Black):
Continue to follow the trail. Another giant will block your path, but sadly he has no prize. Continue on your path. Eventually you will come to a point where there is a large tree growing out of the path, impeding your forward progress. Turn around and look back towards the path. On the left-hand side of the path you will see a pair of trees that are working hard to hold up the ridge with their toes. You will have to move off the path and downhill a little to be able to access these trees. Look between the toes of the left-hand tree.