Le Moulin de la Galette (Van Gogh series)

Le Moulin de la Galette
Artist	Vincent van Gogh
Year	1886
Catalogue	F348a JH1221
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	46 cm × 38 cm (18 in × 15 in)
Location	Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires

Le Moulin de la Galette is the title of several paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1886 of a windmill, the Moulin de la Galette, which was near Van Gogh and his brother Theo's apartment in Montmartre. The owners of the windmill maximized the view on the butte overlooking Paris, creating a terrace for viewing and a dance hall for entertainment.

The windmill paintings are a subset of paintings from Van Gogh's Montmartre series.

Paris

In 1886 van Gogh left the Netherlands for Paris and the guidance of his brother Theo van Gogh. While van Gogh had been influenced by great Dutch masters, coming to Paris meant that he would have the opportunity to be influenced by Impressionists, Symbolists, Pointillists, and Japanese art. His circle of friends included Émile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Vogler and others.^[1]

Montmartre, a butte overlooking Paris, was known for its bars, cafes, and dance-hall. It was also located on the edge of countryside that afforded van Gogh the opportunity to work on paintings of rural settings while living in Paris.^[2]

The landscape and windmills around Montmartre were the source of inspiration for a number of van Gogh's paintings. Moulin de la Galette, the windmill still mounted over the moved establishment, is located near the apartment that van Gogh shared with his brother Theo from 1886 until 1888. Built in 1622, it was originally called Blute-Fin and belonged to the Debray family in the 19th century. Van Gogh met artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac and Paul Gauguin who inspired him to incorporate Impressionism into his artwork. Among other things, this resulted in lighter, more colorful works of art.^[3]

Moulin de la Galette was also the name of an outdoor dance hall that was located between two of the last windmills on a Montmartre hilltop. In addition to van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre-Auguste Renoir also painted Moulin de la Galette.^[4] Renoir's painting of the dance hall is titled Bal du moulin de la Galette.

The paintings

Three paintings with similar compositions

In van Gogh's first year in Paris he painted rural areas around Montmartre, such as the butte and its windmills. The colors were sometimes somber, and evoke a sense of his anxiety and loneliness, while other paintings were bright and evoked an enthusiastic intense nature.^[5]

• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette
  1886
  Stiftung Langmatt, Baden, Switzerland (F226)
• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette
  1886
  Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands (F227)
• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette
  1886
  Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin (F228)

Other paintings titled Le Moulin de la Galette

Le Moulin de la Galette, also called The Blute-Fin Windmill, Montmartre (F274) reflects van Gogh's artistic transition from his work in the Netherlands which was somber and heavy. Influenced by Impressionism, van Gogh's painted this work with lighter colors and unrestrained brushstrokes to capture light and movement. Van Gogh made the painting from an empty lot on rue Lepic, the street in which he lived with Theo. The painting features the Moulin de Blute-Fin, a 17th-century grain-mill, which was an attraction for its views of Paris. At this time there were three windmills on the butte, but this was the windmill van Gogh favored as a subject for his paintings. Moulin a Poivre, a second windmill, is just inside the left frame of the painting on the horizon. The painting was sold by Scottish art dealer Alex Reid to William McInnes and with van Gogh's Portrait of Alexander Reid is in the collection of Glasgow Museums.^[2]

Le Moulin de la Galette (F348) is an example how van Gogh used a technique for heavily applying paint called impasto that it created a relief effect, partly to convey emotion. The brushstrokes in the windmill and doorsteps are noticeable. The faces of the two people were created with just a couple of brushstrokes.^[6]

• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette also The Blute-Fin Windmill, Montmartre
  1886
  Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow (F274)
• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette
  1886
  Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina (F348)
• 
  Le Moulin de la Galette
  1886
  Private collection (F349)

Blute-Fin windmill paintings

In addition to Le Moulin de la Galette (F274), which is also named The Blute-Fin Windmill, Montmartre, there are several other paintings with the name Blute-Fin.

• 
  Le Moulin de blute-fin, 1886, Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle ^[7]
• 
  Le Moulin de Blute-Fin, 1886, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo (F273)
• 
  Terrace and Observation Deck at the Moulin de Blute-Fin, Montmartre, 1886, Art Institute of Chicago(F272)

Other windmill paintings

Here are the images of paintings from van Gogh's period in Paris that include windmills:

• 
  The Hill of Montmartre with Stone Quarry
  1886
  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F229)
• 
  The Hill of Montmartre with Quarry
  1886
  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F230)
• 
  The Hill of Montmartre also View of Montmartre with Windmills
  1886
  Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands (F266)
• 
  Windmill on Montmartre (b/w copy)
  1886
  Destroyed by fire in 1967 (F271)
• 
  Vegetable Gardens in Montmartre: La Butte Montmartre
  1887
  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F346)
• 
  Street Scene in Montmartre: Le Moulin a Poivre
  1887
  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F347)
• 
  Vegetable Gardens in Montmartre: La Butte Montmartre
  1887
  Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (F350)
• 
  Street Scene in Montmartre
  1887
  Private collection (No F number, JH1240)

See also

• List of works by Vincent van Gogh

References

1. Wallace, R (1969). of Time-Life Books (ed.). The World of Van Gogh (1853–1890). Alexandria, VA, USA: Time-Life Books. pp. 40, 69.
2. Hamilton, V; Kelvingrove Museum; Art Gallery (2002). Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century French painting from. New Haven and London: Yale University Press with Glasgow Museums. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-902752-65-0.
3. Mroue, H (1999). Frommer's Memorable Walks in Paris. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing Inc. p. 123. ISBN 0-471-77648-3.
4. Williams, E (1999). Picasso's Paris: walking tours of the artist's life in the city. New York: The Little Bookroom. p. 19. ISBN 0-9641262-7-3.
5. Galbally, A (2008). A remarkable friendship: Vincent van Gogh and John Peter Russell. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Publishing. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-5228-5376--6.
6. Estefanía, L (2005). A Visit to Buenos Aires National Museum of Fine Arts. Buenos Aires: Editorial Albatros SACI. p. 33. ISBN 978-950-24-1171-2.
7. Art Daily Van Gogh Experts Authenticate Unusual Painting Now on View at Museum de Fundatie