Comparative Essay between La Goulue & Les Girard
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge - La Goulue
The city of lights was all about fun and the nightlife during the 19th century. Fortunately enough, Jules Cheret and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were able to perfectly capture the essence of Paris’s blooming nightlife through their posters. Generally speaking, both posters are the same style, however, each artist was able to create different visual effects and atmospheric perspective using their own aesthetic sense.
In this situation, both posters are advertising to the viewer the exhilarating nightlife in Parisian cabarets back in the 19th century. Yet, Lautrec’s poster managed to capture a distinctive and sensual atmosphere compared to Cheret’s joyful atmosphere. Louise Weber, the female dancer in Lautrec’s poster, can be seen performing the provocative cancan dance, which exposes her undergarments as she kicks her legs. The audience in the background looks as if they are interacting with the dancer even if they are just watching her. Meanwhile, the dancers in Cheret’s poster are cheerfully dancing with their hands in the air with no audience around.
Even though the figures depicted in both posters are 2-dimentional, Lautrec’s poster has more depth because of the way he places his figures through out different layers. The male dancer and the unusual yellow shape on the left dominate the foreground. The main focus of this image is the female figure placed in the center and between the foreground and background. The contrasting silhouettes behind her further highlight the focus on her. The figure in the middle of Cheret’s poster is wearing a vibrant red dress, which easily catches the viewer’s eye even though two lively dancing men overlap her. The two male figures are framing the woman in the middle with their legs. The soft, textured, and plain background contrast with the red and black of the flat figures and brings them out. There is minimal use of shading, but instead, crisp black lines outline the
The city of lights was all about fun and the nightlife during the 19th century. Fortunately enough, Jules Cheret and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were able to perfectly capture the essence of Paris’s blooming nightlife through their posters. Generally speaking, both posters are the same style, however, each artist was able to create different visual effects and atmospheric perspective using their own aesthetic sense.
In this situation, both posters are advertising to the viewer the exhilarating nightlife in Parisian cabarets back in the 19th century. Yet, Lautrec’s poster managed to capture a distinctive and sensual atmosphere compared to Cheret’s joyful atmosphere. Louise Weber, the female dancer in Lautrec’s poster, can be seen performing the provocative cancan dance, which exposes her undergarments as she kicks her legs. The audience in the background looks as if they are interacting with the dancer even if they are just watching her. Meanwhile, the dancers in Cheret’s poster are cheerfully dancing with their hands in the air with no audience around.
Even though the figures depicted in both posters are 2-dimentional, Lautrec’s poster has more depth because of the way he places his figures through out different layers. The male dancer and the unusual yellow shape on the left dominate the foreground. The main focus of this image is the female figure placed in the center and between the foreground and background. The contrasting silhouettes behind her further highlight the focus on her. The figure in the middle of Cheret’s poster is wearing a vibrant red dress, which easily catches the viewer’s eye even though two lively dancing men overlap her. The two male figures are framing the woman in the middle with their legs. The soft, textured, and plain background contrast with the red and black of the flat figures and brings them out. There is minimal use of shading, but instead, crisp black lines outline the