Study for Au Moulin Rouge

Pierre Bonnard

ca. 1891 · Charcoal and pastel on paper · Drawings and Prints

This drawing is one of a small group of preparatory sketches for a poster commission that Bonnard hoped to win from Charles Zidler, owner of the famed Moulin Rouge cabaret. Composed of animated lines with eye-catching touches of pastel in purple, yellow, red, and orange, Bonnard’s design on the recto of this sheet features a dancer performing a high kick in the foreground and a woman in a striped ensemble with a man in a top hat seated in the background. Though he ultimately lost the commission to Toulouse-Lautrec, this work is an important record of Bonnard’s early career as a poster designer.

Artist

Pierre Bonnard

Date

ca. 1891

Medium

Charcoal and pastel on paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Jill Newhouse, 2014