Georges Alfred Bottini 1874-1907

Born in Montmartre, George Bottini was immersed from an early age in the vibrant life of the Butte through the clientele of his father, an Italian-born hairdresser established on rue Fontaine. A regular at the Moulin de la Galette, the Bal Tabarin, and the seedy hotels of the rue Bréda district (where he is said to have contracted syphilis as early as the age of fifteen), he turned to painting and enrolled in Fernand Cormon’s studio in 1894.

Shortly after completing his military service, he took part from 1896 onward in the Exhibitions of Impressionist and Symbolist Painters (Expositions des peintres Impressionnistes et Symbolistes) at the Galerie Georges Petit, before making his debut the following year at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Alongside his painting, he developed a career as a poster artist and press illustrator, collaborating with Le Rire, then directed by Arsène Alexandre, who identified him as a “modern Constantin Guys [1] ” and introduced him to Toulouse-Lautrec and Anquetin.

Noticed by Edmond Kleinmann, former mayor of the 18th arrondissement and publisher of Willette, de Feure, and Steinlen, Bottini exhibited in Kleinmann’s gallery on rue de la Victoire in 1899. A quintessential figure of Montmartre bohemia and a self-styled dandy, he deliberately spelled his first name “George” in the English manner and cultivated an elegant appearance, favoring knickerbockers and a bowler hat. A regular patron of La Souris, the famous lesbian bar on the Butte, he quickly developed a preference for watercolor, depicting the provocative, heavily made-up figures of prostitutes around the Place Blanche.

In 1903, Bottini joined the walls of the Galerie Berthe-Weil and associated with Picasso, before taking part in the founding of the Salon d’Automne. At the same time, he earned a living by illustrating novels and short stories, often of a light or frivolous nature, such as Nuits de fête by Félicien Champsaur (1902), Les Minutes parisiennes by Gustave Coquiot (1903), and La Maison Philibert by Jean Lorrain (1904).

In declining health and suffering from delirium tremens, he was committed in 1907 to the asylum at Villejuif, where he died insane shortly thereafter.