A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

National Gallery of Art

Seven people with cream-white skin crowd together, sitting at or standing among tables in an interior space in this vertical painting. The composition is dominated by shades of blue and pale green. On the right side and closest to us, a woman sits opposite a man at a butter-yellow table, both facing our left in profile. The table extends in from the right, almost halfway up the canvas. The pair are shown from the knees up and span most of the height of the painting. The woman wears a long, teal-blue jacket over a peanut-brown skirt and a frilled cap topped with a pine-green bow. The man wears an olive-green bowler and cinnamon-brown coat, and rests one arm on the table. Two glasses sit on the table in front of them. In the center of the painting, a woman wearing a long, black coat stands on the far side of the table, her head nearly reaching the top edge of the composition. Her body is angled slightly to our right and she gazes off in that direction. Beyond her is another table with two men partly obscured by the couple in front of us. One sitting at the table has flame-red hair topped with a round cap, and a portion of his aqua and peacock-blue striped jacket is visible. Near him, another person in a dark garment with a high collar stands with their back to us, most of the head cropped by the top edge. Along the left side, two women stand one behind the other with their backs to us. The woman closest to us looks away, wearing a short, parchment-white jacket over an aquamarine-blue skirt. The jacket is belted at the waist and the collar, upper back, and long cuffs are rust red. The woman beyond her turns her head to our right in profile, and wears a light blue jacket and pale green skirt. The features and clothing of each person in the scene is outlined in charcoal gray. The artist signed the painting in the upper right corner, “HTLautrec,” with the H, T, and L interlocking to make a monogram.