Toulouse-Lautrec made a career depicting colorful personalities from Parisian cabarets and dance halls like the Moulin Rouge. He populated this painting with that nightclub's regulars, including himself—the diminutive figure in the center background. Dancer La Goulue arranges her hair behind the table where Jane Avril, another performer, socializes. Singer May Milton peers out from the painting's right edge, her face harshly lit and acid green.

At the Moulin Rouge

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Toulouse-Lautrec made a career depicting colorful personalities from Parisian cabarets and dance halls like the Moulin Rouge. He populated this painting with that nightclub's regulars, including himself—the diminutive figure in the center background. Dancer La Goulue arranges her hair behind the table where Jane Avril, another performer, socializes. Singer May Milton peers out from the painting's right edge, her face harshly lit and acid green.

Colors in this work

Details

Date
1892–95
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
123 × 141 cm (48 7/16 × 55 1/2 in.); Framed: 136.9 × 154.7 × 8.5 cm (53 7/8 × 60 7/8 × 3 5/16 in.)
Origin
France
Holding institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Image provider
art-institute-chicago
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection

Art Genome Taxonomy

12 tags

Subject Matter

  • Group Portrait Both · 99%

    The Art Institute of Chicago identifies the work as a group portrait, and the image visibly assembles numerous people around a shared social setting.

  • Bars and Restaurants Both · 99%

    The catalog describes the Moulin Rouge as a café-concert and lists bars among the subjects; the image shows a crowded venue with seated patrons, glasses, and entertainment.

  • Performing Arts Both · 98%

    The catalog identifies dancers and a singer among the depicted figures, while the image shows performers or elaborately dressed figures within the venue.

  • Interiors Both · 99%

    The museum describes a café-concert interior, and the image clearly depicts an enclosed room with tables, chairs, background panels, and multiple figures.

  • Leisure Both · 97%

    Leisure is listed among the catalog subjects, and the image depicts socializing and drinking in an entertainment venue.

Styles and Movements

  • Post-Impressionism Metadata · 99%

    The Art Institute of Chicago lists Post-Impressionism among the work’s styles.

Visual Qualities

  • Dense Composition Visual · 99%

    Numerous overlapping figures, the large foreground table, and the compressed spatial arrangement produce a crowded, visually dense composition.

  • Dark Colors Visual · 97%

    The painting is dominated by dark browns, greens, blacks, and muted reds, with lighter localized accents on faces, clothing, and glassware.

  • Asymmetrical Visual · 96%

    The cropped face at the extreme right and the strongly projecting diagonal table create an intentionally uneven, off-center arrangement.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

    The museum records the medium as oil on canvas.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog dates the work to 1892–95, placing it within the nineteenth century.

Geographic Regions

  • French Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog identifies the artist as French and the place of origin as France.

Source & rights

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. At the Moulin Rouge. The Art Institute of Chicago.

High-resolution sources