Dance Partners

A couple at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston stand before Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s famous 1883 painting Dance at Bougival.  The open-air cafés of suburban Bougival, a town on the river Seine west of Paris, were popular recreation spots for city dwellers, including the Impressionists. Here, an amateur boatman in a straw hat sweeps his stylish partner along in a waltz.  The son of a dressmaker and a tailor, Renoir delighted in capturing intricate details of contemporary fashions, such as the woman’s red bonnet trimmed with purple fruits.  The painting was executed directly, with very little sketching or planning before applying the paint.

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Oil on Canvas

36 x 24 Inches

2024

SOLD