Moulin Rouge-La Goulue (Trial Proof)

1892

48 x 67 1/8 in /
121.9 x 170.2 cm

Only known copy
Key stone printed in black on two sheets of wove paper
Commissioned by the Moulin Rouge (M. Zidler)
UNIQUE

The artist has portrayed the star dancers of the Moulin Rouge, Louise Weber, known as La Goulue (1870-1929), and Etienne Renaudin, known as Valentin Desosse (1843-1907), against a background of spectators. He made the poster in the summer of 1891 for Charles Zidler, the impresario who had opened the entertainment establishment on the Boulevar/Clichy two years before. He mentions it in letters to his mother at Albi, as in this one written in July of that year: ‘I am still waiting for my poster to come out-there is some delay in the printing. But it has been fun to do. I had a feeling of authority over the whole studio, a new feeling for me' (Ph. Huisman-M. G. Dortu, Lautrec by Lautrec, New York 1964, p. 90).

References: Wittrock P1, Adriani 1