Moulin Rouge: La Goulue

Moulin Rouge: La Goulue by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is a monumental work of commercial and fine art created in 1891. This lithograph, printed in four colors across three joined sheets of wove paper, exemplifies the artist's revolutionary integration of popular imagery and large-scale printing techniques. Toulouse-Lautrec transformed the visual identity of fin-de-siècle Paris, elevating the function of the printed advertisement to that of high art. The piece was commissioned to promote the legendary Montmartre dance hall, the Moulin Rouge, and features its most recognizable star.

The work vividly captures the bustling, often chaotic energy of the dance floor. The central figure is the famous can-can dancer Louise Weber, known as "La Goulue" (The Glutton), depicted mid-kick with her elaborate white petticoats flared. The artist masterfully contrasts the bright, dynamic figure of La Goulue with the shadowy silhouettes of the audience, comprising both men and women, clustered in the background. The flattened perspective and stark backlighting reveal Toulouse-Lautrec’s strong influence from Japanese woodblock prints, focusing intensely on movement and expression while efficiently utilizing color.

As one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s most ambitious prints, this piece cemented his reputation as the premier visual chronicler of Parisian nightlife and commercial entertainment. The complexity required to register the four color layers over three separate sheets made the artwork technically groundbreaking for the time, securing its status not just as a successful advertisement, but as a major achievement in the history of printmaking. This iconic work resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is preserved as a key example of the emergence of the modern poster as a powerful form of public art.