Artwork
A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette
A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It dates from 1892 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Henri de Toulouse‑Lautrec’s 1892 oil on cardboard, *A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette*, portrays a bustling interior of the famous Parisian dance hall. The composition concentrates on a slice of the venue, filled with figures in motion, conveying the immediacy of a night out in Montmartre.
Subject & Meaning
The scene gathers men and women at tables and standing in conversation, a woman in a blue dress seated while a man in a dark coat engages nearby. The crowded space, rendered with a sense of kinetic energy, reflects the social vibrancy of the Moulin de la Galette, a favored haunt for the city’s bohemian clientele.
Technique & Style
Executed with loose, expressive brushwork, the painting employs bold, saturated hues—greens, yellows, oranges—to suggest depth and atmosphere rather than precise detail. The flattened perspective and vivid color palette align the work with Post‑Impressionist concerns for emotional impact over naturalistic representation.
History & Provenance
Created after Toulouse‑Lautrec’s adolescent injuries that limited his physical stature, the work belongs to a series in which the artist repeatedly returned to the Moulin de la Galette as a subject, documenting its lively nightlife throughout the 1890s.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (French: ), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator.
