Le Moulin de la Galette, 1886 by Vincent van Gogh

The year Van Gogh arrived in Paris, 1886, was also the last of the eight Impressionist exhibitions that were first staged in 1874, The unorthodoxy of the contributing artists and their radical approach to painting had opened the door for a whole new generation of innovative artists, and paved the way for the emergence of modern art. Van Gogh arrived as the Impressionist artists were reaching the height of their mature style, and other painters such as Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, and Paul Gauguin were investing new and astonishing originality in their work. It was an atmosphere of intense artistic stimulation, and on arriving in the big city Van Gogh declared, 'The air of France is clarifying my ideas and is doing me good, a lot of good, all the good in the world.'

His studio in Montmortre was on the rue Lepic, the same road as the windmill Le Radet, which formed part of the nightclub Le Moulin de la Galette, It was an area that he painted frequently, and was the subject of many of his contemporaries' paintings.