At the Moulin Rouge, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

At the Moulin Rouge is a lively and dynamic portrayal of life at a famous entertainment venue in Paris in the 1890s. The artist was one of the colourful figures that added to its fame.

The artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) was a highly accomplished and prolific artist who refused to abide by any conventions, whether artistic or personal. He did his own thing and went his own way, with the result that he left a huge number of works of art that get to the heart of Paris life in the last years of the 19^th century.

He suffered from a genetic condition that gave him severe bone pain and meant that, when he broke both his legs as a child, they never grew any longer after they healed. He spent the rest of his life after adolescence with an adult’s body on top of a child’s legs. Unfortunately, his life was a short one as he died of a stroke, brought on by alcoholism, at the age of 37.

His physical condition, coupled with an unorthodox upbringing by an over- protective mother and a highly eccentric and mostly absent father, caused him to have psychological problems such that he only felt at home among other troubled people who would accept him for what he was and not mock or judge him. These people included circus performers, prostitutes, and other citizens of the Paris “demi-monde”.

For his part, he was able to understand how the minds worked of the people who became the subject matter of his art. He developed the ability to portray the thoughts and feelings of people from their faces and body language, in a way that few other artists have managed to do.

The painting

At the Moulin Rouge, painted in 1892, is a typical portrayal of the world in which he was at home.  It shows a group of people, some sitting at a table, some standing and others walking, who belonged to the bohemian underworld of entertainers and their patrons who would be found every night attending a show at the famous music-hall in Montmartre. 

Perhaps the performance has yet to begin, or this might be an interval during which drinks are being taken and performers flit past on their way to the stage or the changing rooms.

The painting is carefully arranged so that the viewer’s focus is directed to the faces of the people portrayed. A frame is provided by the diagonal lines of a balustrade on the left, the table itself and the planks on the floor. The colour scheme is mainly light and dark browns and deep reds, with a greenish background of mirrors which reflect the people vaguely enough to give the impression of much greater distance. Certain features therefore stand out in contrast, in particular the faces of the people and the brilliant red hair of one of the women at the table.

On the right of the painting is a woman moving towards the viewer, but only part of her face is visible, the rest being off the frame to the right. This gives the impression that much more is going on that the viewer cannot see. Her face is heavily made up with bright red lipstick and green skin, suggesting that she is part of the cabaret, possibly one of the can-can dancers for which the Moulin Rouge was famed.

All the people in the painting are known by name, such as the Spanish dancer La Macarona, sitting at the table, and a French dancer known as La Goulue who is arranging her hair in the background. 

The men sitting at the table and drinking absinthe were friends of the artist, who has painted himself walking past the table, his top hat barely reaching the shoulder of his companion, who is actually his cousin.

Through this painting, Toulouse-Lautrec not only takes the viewer inside his world, where people communicate and offer friendship but also have hidden secrets, but he also places himself literally “in the picture” as being part of that world.

At the Moulin Rouge is part of the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

© John Welford