Le Moulin de la Galette

Vincent van Gogh

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Keywords: MoulinGalette

Work Overview

Le Moulin de la Galette
Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1886; Paris, France *
Style: Post-Impressionism
Genre: cityscape
Media: oil, canvas
Dimensions: 50 x 61 cm
Location: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina


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.