Classroom Activities
This painting represents a place where people
went to have a good time. Ask students to
think about a place where they like to have fun
(older elementary students can visit a location
nearby, and make several sketches of it to use
as a point of reference). Students can then create a painting of this place that reveals how
it makes them feel. When finished, students
can share their paintings and compare them to
Picasso’s.
Elementary School
Middle School
In Le Moulin de la Galette, Picasso captures a
specific moment in time. Have students carefully observe the painting and discuss what
they notice and what they think is happening in this picture. Then, ask them to imagine
what could have happened prior to and following this scene. Next, have students sketch
a “before” and an “after” picture. Display
students’ drawings on either side of Picasso’s
work and discuss how stories can be told with
pictures instead of words.
High School
Picasso was not the only artist who was
intrigued by the dance hall Le Moulin de la
Galette. Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted Le Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec created At the Moulin de la Galette in
1889. Have students look at these artworks.
How do these different artists depict this spot?
What is similar and different about their representations? Following this discussion, choose
a place that students know well and have each
student create their own rendition of this spot
emphasizing the characteristics that are most
important to them. Discuss the similarities and
differences between the resulting works.
SchoolArts February 2008
Imagine you could step inside this painting. Describe how you would feel. What sounds
would you hear?
Pretend you are one of the characters in this
painting. What is your life like? If your character could speak, what would he or she say?
This artwork was created over one hundred
years ago in Paris. Based on your observations
of this painting, what can you infer about life in
this French city in 1900? How is it similar to or
different from life today?
Resources
“Famous Pablo Picasso Quotes,” 23 August
2007. www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso-quotations.htm
New York: Random House, 1991.
Scarborough, Kate. Pablo Picasso. Danbury, CT:
Marie Reilly is an education coordinator at the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Museum.
Mailer, Norman. Portrait of Picasso as a Young
Man. New York: Warner Books, 1995.
“Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), About the Artist,
Selections from the Permanent Collection
of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Teacher Guide,” 10 September 2007, www.
guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/col-lections_picasso.php
Richardson, John. A Life of Picasso: Volume 1.
Franklin Watts, 2002.
www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso-quotations.
htm
www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculum/lessons/
collections_picasso.php
www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_
work_md_126_ 15.ht ml
picasso.tamu.edu/picasso
This painting depicts the interior of the
famous Parisian dance hall Le Moulin de la
Galette, which was popular at the turn of the
twentieth century. Picasso visited this place
while in the French capital in 1900, and his
time there must have been meaningful—Le
Moulin de la Galette was the first painting
he created in Paris. Although he had seen pictures of similar venues in French newspapers,
Picasso’s firsthand experience inspired him to
vibrantly document the spectacle he observed.
Certain clues in the painting suggest how the
artist might have felt about this spot. While the
large open space in the right foreground seems
to provide a welcoming entrance into this place,
it also separates the viewer from the scene. This
tension may reflect Picasso’s feelings as an outsider, hesitant to enter. The dark background
bathed in glowing light and the obvious whispers and stares of the fashionably clad clientele
also suggest that the artist may have felt uneasy
about this place and wary of some of the people
there. These details indicate that the location
may have held a mixed meaning for Picasso—it
was both fascinating and intimidating. These
ideas suggest some ways in which this artwork
can be interpreted; the unique thoughts and
perceptions of viewers can also help shape the
meaning of the painting.
the back, surround the dance floor and keenly
observe the scene. A group sits at a table in the
immediate foreground. One of them, a woman
leaning on her elbow, gazes intently at someone
or something outside of the picture. The others
appear immersed in conversation, whispering
among themselves.
Look carefully at this painting. What do you
notice? What activities are the people engaged
in? Would you like to visit this spot? Why or
why not?
