Toulouse-Lautrec: At the Moulin de la Galette
Thirteen years after Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec painted the Moulin de la Galette from almost the exact same angle as Renoir. In both, people sit at tables and benches in the foreground while couples dance on the dance floor in the background. The comparison of the two works is very revealing to Renoir’s true intentions with his work. Through the lens of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work, we notice aspect’s of Renoir’s Le Moulin be la Galette that we didn’t see before. Further, the comparison heightens the fact that Renoir was obsessed with his reputation and the social class of his models.
In examining the appearance of the two works, we see that Renoir’s work is more imaginary and happy. First, the colors give rise to this proposal. The colors of the two are completely different. Renoir’s shows the bright sunlight of a summer day with whites and yellows while Toulouse-Lautrec’s is darker and captures more of the feeling of being inside with browns and grays. Looking again at Renoir’s, it is hard to see the ground on which the couples are dancing. Instead, they seem to be dancing on white clouds and blue sky.
Toulouse-Lautrec’s shows a distinct brown floor with lined floorboards. Further, the way that people are positioned on the dance floor suggest Renoir’s version is somewhat less realistic than Toulouse-Lautrec’s. There is a huge difference in the people between the two paintings. Although they are positioned in mostly the same positions, with people sitting in the foreground and dancing in the background, in Toulouse-Lautrec’s, we barely see any of the faces of the people. In Renoir’s almost every person is looking at the viewer.
Toulouse-Lautrec’s is a more candid view of the dance scene. This tells us that Renoir’s was more posed. He was more concerned with the viewer of his painting seeing the identities revealed by the faces of his dancers than with depicting the true events of the place. Although the people would not have been turned in such a way to face Renoir while they danced, they did so in Renoir’s work so that Renoir could show who they were. The identities of the people were important to Renoir. Thus his work strayed from being a authentic depiction of the dance hall. Renoir added his own elements to the scene while Toulouse-Lautrec’s appears to be more genuine.
Pablo Picasso: Le Moulin de la Galette
Picasso undoubtedly knew Renoir’s Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette (1876, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) and his own work became an antithesis to that apotheosis of Impressionism.
-The State Hermitage Museum Exhibition 2001.
The State Hermitage Museum held an exhibit that featured Pablo Picasso’s version of Moulin de la Galette in 2001 and made the previous assessment of the painting. It is stated that Picasso’s work became an opposing force of Impressionism. Picasso created his Le Moulin de la Galette in 1900, just one year after Toulouse-Lautrec made his At the Moulin de la Galette. According to The State Hermitage Museum, Picasso’s work was far different from Renoir’s.
Picasso intended to capture the lusty and mysterious atmosphere of the place with his painting. Such an ambience was nothing like what Renoir depicted fourteen years earlier. Picasso’s version is far more arousing and dangerous appearing, with the lamps burning in darkness and the rouge lips of the women. Further, the outfits of the people are more modern and sophisticated than Renoir’s. Picasso’s women wear fur coats, bright-colored dresses and gaudy hats. The men wear sharp black top hats and tuxedos. This contrasts heavily with Renoir’s country dresses and funny green pants. This difference makes Picasso’s not only more fashionable, but more mysterious than Renoir’s. Picasso’s scene seems almost voyeuristic. Picasso’s dance hall looks more like the Moulin Rouge where prostitutes dance with wealthy patrons, than the Moulin de la Galette where families go on a Sunday afternoon. Thus Picasso’s and Renoir’s are in opposition in those ways.
But is Picasso’s really the “antithesis to that apotheosis of Impressionism?” Are they that different to separate them so fully? From another angle, they are more similar than one may think. Besides from being fashionable, Picasso’s has a quality that makes it resemble a stage performance (The Hermitage Museum Exhibit). The lamps light up the faces as if on a stage. The people seem posed for others to look at. This is very much the same as Renoir’s. His couples seem posed for the viewer to see, not candid in the movements of the dance. Further, Picasso’s people’s faces almost all look forward at the audience, like Renoir’s. They were both concerned with the identities of the people in their paintings. People have identified some of the models in Picasso’a work as people have done in Renoir’s. Both Picasso and Renoir cared about the identities of who they painted, with a performance quality, and weren’t so different after all.
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri. At the Moulin de la Galette. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. 1889.
Renoir, Auguste. Le Moulin de la Galette. Musee d’Orsay, Paris. 1876.
Picasso, Pablo. Le Moulin de la Galette. Guggenheim Museum, New York. 1900.