At the age of 13 Henri fractured his right thigh bone and, at 14, the left.[5] The breaks did not heal properly. Modern physicians attribute this to an unknown genetic disorder, possibly pycnodysostosis (also sometimes known as Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome),[6] or a variant disorder along the lines of osteopetrosis, achondroplasia, or osteogenesis imperfecta.[7]Rickets aggravated with praecox virilism has also been suggested. His legs ceased to grow, so that as an adult he was extremely short. He had developed an adult-sized torso, while retaining his child-sized legs.[8] He is reported to have had hypertrophied genitals.[9]
Physically unable to participate in many activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in art. He became an important Post-Impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, and recorded in his works many details of the late-19th-century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. Toulouse-Lautrec contributed a number of illustrations to the magazine Le Rire during the mid-1890s.
Even with such physical handicaps Henri immersed himself in the society of his time. He must have been a lot of fun.
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