China Rhyming in Paris 1 – Toulouse-Lautrec’s La Danse Mauresque, 1895

A few posts on various Chinoiserie and other Orientalist bits and bobs gleaned from a recent trip to Paris – well, not that recent actually but I’ve not got around to posting for ages.

First off a trip to the Moulin Rouge to watch the Can-Can. The current show on offer features one particular dance number that is a glorious Orientalist mash up featuring Chinoiserie, Indo-Chinoiserie and some Indian inflections too. A complete mess, but great fun. Of course Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was the great artist of the Moulin Rouge, and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris contains his painting La Danse Mauresque (The Moorish Dance) from 1895 which also appears to be an Orientalist mash up with a be-turbaned Indian alongside a traditional Moulin Rouge chorus line girl. The painting was done as a panel for the house of La Goulue (The Glutton) at the Foire du Trone in Paris. La Goulue (actually Louise Webster) was a Can-Can dancer known as the Queen of Montmartre and a great favourite of Toulouse-Lautrec. The Foire du Trone is an annual festival that takes place in the Forest of Vincennes near Paris featuring various acts.

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La Goulue