On a Sunday afternoon in Montmartre, Paris, young men and women dance, chat and drink in an open-air dance hall as sunlight filters through the trees. Renoir's joyous painting captured the happiest moments of ordinary Parisian life.
Key facts
- Artist
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir1841–1919 · French
- Date
- 1876
- Period
- Impressionism1860–1890
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 131 × 175 cm
- Location
- Musée d'Orsay Paris, France
Actual size
Compared with an adult 170 cm tall
Palette
#212324#4A4B46#716D60#948C7E#B2ADA4Background
The Moulin de la Galette was an old windmill on the hill of Montmartre that had become an open-air dance hall and café, named after the galette biscuits it served. On Sundays workers, seamstresses and artists came to dance and relax.
Renoir rented a studio nearby and carried the canvas to the dance hall every day. Most of the figures are his friends: the sisters Estelle and Jeanne seated in front, the painters and writers around the table, all posed for him.
It was shown at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877. His friend the painter Gustave Caillebotte bought it and bequeathed it to the state; it is now in the Musée d'Orsay.
Technique & composition
Most admired is Renoir's rendering of falling through the leaves. He scattered touches of pale yellow, white and pink across clothes, faces and the ground, so that the whole scene seems to shimmer and sway.
The canvas is crowded with figures, from in front to in the middle and the blurred crowd behind, receding layer by layer to create a lively atmosphere. Renoir's soft brushwork melts contours so that figures and light become one.
Details
Symbolism
The joys of modern life
There are no myths or heroes, only the leisure and happiness of ordinary Parisians. This was the Impressionist creed: modern city life itself is worth painting.
An idealised paradise
Renoir's figures are all young, attractive and happy, with no sign of poverty or fatigue. It is an idealised paradise of ordinary people, very different from the labourers painted by the Realists.
Stories
- Did you know?
Renoir also painted a smaller version. In 1990 it sold at auction in New York for about $78 million, making it one of the most expensive paintings in the world at the time.
- Did you know?
The windmill of the Moulin de la Galette still stands on Montmartre, next to a restaurant of the same name.
Legacy
Bal du moulin de la Galette is one of the defining works of Impressionism, and its handling of light and crowds was hugely influential. Van Gogh, Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec all painted the Moulin de la Galette in homage.
