NEWS

In this section, we will continue to share artwork presentations, artist-related stories, and insights into the art market from the perspective of our gallery.

Maurice Utrillo　Moulin de la Galette　Executed in 1950　Color crayon and graphite on paper

The Moulin de la Galette, one of Maurice Utrillo's most recurring and emblematic subjects, was a popular dance hall located in Montmartre, Paris. The site flourished as a lively social gathering place for the working class and was frequently depicted by Impressionist painters.

Utrillo was born and raised in Montmartre, where he developed his career as an artist and spent his youth surrounded by poverty, friendship, and the culture of café life and drink.

What makes this work particularly interesting is that it was executed in 1950, during the artist's late period, in Le Vésinet, a quiet residential suburb west of Paris. As declining health increasingly limited his mobility, Utrillo appears to have painted this scene from memory, recalling the Montmartre of his younger years while living away from it.

An inscription at the top of the sheet dedicates the work to a friend "in memory of a fine Calvados," suggesting a shared moment of conviviality. The drawing can thus be understood as a personal gift, in which the aging artist revisits the Montmartre he loved, offering it alongside the warm memory of time spent together over a drink.