Signed bottom right, pencil and colored pencil on paper
Executed circa 1932.

Provenance

An Important Private New York Collection.

Note

We wish to thank Hélène Bruneau from Association Maurice Utrillo for confirming the authenticity of the present work, which will be included in the forthcoming volume of the Maurice Utrillo Catalogue Raisonné, currently in preparation.

The present sketch depicts the Moulin de la Galette, an iconic windmill sitting atop Montmartre that served as a guinguette and a restaurant, which many artists visited including Maurice Utrillo. Here, the artist uses colored pencils to quickly capture the details of the scene and reveal the various nuances and hues of the scene. It is one of many drawings Utrillo made of the Moulin de la Galette, which continually inspired him throughout his career, and which he always used as a true representation of the parisian way of life: utter joy, optimism and sociability. Such preparatory work was often used by Utrillo towards a larger composition the artist would later transfer onto canvas, in oil. As such, the present drawing and the following one (Lot 8) are important in gaging the artist's thought process, and energetic style.