Study for In the Salon on the Rue des Moulins

Painted in 1894 and held at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, this study for the major Salon at the Rue des Moulins composition documents Lautrec's preparatory process for one of his most ambitious large-scale works. The brothel on the Rue des Moulins, where Lautrec sometimes stayed for extended periods, provided the setting for the definitive painting of 1894 showing the salon where women waited between clients. The working study reveals how he approached the composition — building his understanding of individual figures and spatial arrangement before committing to the final canvas. The full composition in the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec is among his masterpieces.

The study quality means a freer, more investigative handling than the finished work, with individual figures observed in characteristic attitudes without the full spatial orchestration of the final composition. Thin paint allows rapid adjustment, and the sketch retains the visual energy of direct observation.