LET's LOOK at the MOULIN ROUGE: the DANCE This Large
AT THE MOULIN ROUGE: THE DANCE This large painting shows the Moulin Rouge (French for “Red Mill”), a popular dance hall near Paris, in about 1890. Men in dark coats and top hats chat among themselves while women show off their fancy hats and feathery stoles. In the center people are dancing. The large, open spaces between the figures and the slanting floorboards 1890 Oil on canvas invite us to slip into the painting and join the milling crowd. 45 1/2 x 59 inches (115.6 x 149.9 cm) HENRI DE TOULOUSE- Who are these people? In the foreground, a woman in pink is shown LAUTREC in profile, eyes downcast, facing the dancers. Still and self-contained, French her silhouette directs our gaze—almost like a signpost—toward the The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, 1986, 1986-26-32 dancer’s curving, rhythmic figures. Look how the dancer’s shadows on the floor in the foreground echo the shapes of their bodies. The LET’S LOOK male dancer with rubbery-looking legs was a well-known performer Where is this scene taking place? How can you tell? nicknamed Valentine the Boneless. He is shown here teaching a Which people are standing still? young woman a daring new dance. Which ones are moving? In the background we can just make out the bartender at the long, Find some diagonal lines, some vertical lines, and one horizontal bar, serving drinks to gentlemen wearing tall, black top horizontal line. hats. Behind the bar are four vertical columns and three gaslight Where are the dark areas? chandeliers, which illuminate the trees beyond.
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