Bal du moulin de la Galette
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''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' (commonly known as ''Dance at Le moulin de la Galette'') is an 1876 painting by French artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...
. It is housed at the
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...
in Paris and is one of
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
's most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at the original Moulin de la Galette in the district of
Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
in Paris. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating
galette Galette (from the Norman word ''gale'', meaning "flat cake") is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat round or freeform crusty cakes, or, in the case of a Breton galette (french: Galette bretonne ; br, Krampouezhenn g ...
s into the evening. Like other works of Renoir's early maturity, ''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' is a typically Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering, sun-dappled light. From 1879 to 1894 the painting was in the collection of the French painter
Gustave Caillebotte Gustave Caillebotte (; 19 August 1848 – 21 February 1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was known for his early ...
; when he died it became the property of the French Republic as payment for
death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
. From 1896 to 1929 the painting hung in the
Musée du Luxembourg The Musée du Luxembourg () is a museum at 19 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' M ...
in Paris. From 1929 it hung in the
Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
until it was transferred to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986.


Smaller version

Renoir painted a smaller version of the picture (78 × 114 cm) with the same title. The painting is now believed to be in a private collection in Switzerland. Apart from their size, the two paintings are virtually identical, although the smaller is painted in a more fluid manner than the d'Orsay version. One is presumably a copy of the original, but it is not known which is the original. It is not even known which was the one first exhibited at the 3rd Impressionist exhibition of 1877, because although the painting was catalogued and given favourable attention by critics, its entry did not indicate the size of the painting, information that would serve to identify it. For many years it was owned by
John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whit ...
. On May 17, 1990, his widow sold the painting for US$78 million at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to Ryoei Saito (Saitō Ryōei), the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Company, Japan. At the time of sale, it was one of the top two most expensive artworks ever sold, together with van Gogh's ''
Portrait of Dr. Gachet ''Portrait of Dr. Gachet'' is one of the most revered paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It depicts Dr. Paul Gachet, a homeopathic doctor and artist with whom van Gogh resided following a spell in an asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Prove ...
'', which was also purchased by Saito. Saito caused international outrage when he suggested in 1991 that he intended to cremate both paintings with him when he died. However, when Saito and his companies ran into severe financial difficulties, bankers who held the painting as
collateral Collateral may refer to: Business and finance * Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan * Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Collate ...
for loans arranged a confidential sale through Sotheby's to an undisclosed buyer. Although not known for certain, the painting is believed to be in the hands of a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
collector.


Genesis

Renoir conceived his project of painting the dancing at ''Le Moulin de la Galette'' in May 1876 and its execution is described in full by his civil servant friend Georges Rivière in his memoir ''Renoir et ses amis''. In the first place, Renoir needed to set up a studio near the mill. A suitable studio was found at an abandoned cottage in the rue Cortot with a garden described by Rivière as a "beautiful abandoned park". Several of Renoir's major works were painted in this garden at this time, including '' La balançoire (The Swing)''. The gardens and its buildings have been preserved as the
Musée de Montmartre The Musée de Montmartre ( en, Montmartre Museum) is located in Montmartre, at 8-14 rue Cortot in the 18th (XVIII) arrondissement of Paris, France. It was founded in 1960 and was classified as a Musée de France in 2003. The buildings were for ...
. Rivière identified several of the personalities in the painting. Despite Renoir's resource of distributing a sought after fashionable hat of the time amongst his models (the straw bonnet with a wide red ribbon top right is an example of this hat, called a ''timbale''), he was unable to persuade his favourite sixteen-year-old model
Jeanne Samary Jeanne Samary (4 March 1857 as Léontine Pauline Jeanne Samary in Neuilly-sur-Seine – 18 September 1890 in Paris) was a French actress at the Comédie-Française and a model for Auguste Renoir, including for Renoir's 1881 painting, ''Lunc ...
, who appears in ''La balançoire'', to pose as principal for the painting (in fact she was conducting an affair with a local boy at the time). It is her sister Estelle who poses as the girl wearing a blue and pink striped dress. These two girls came to ''Le Moulin'' every Sunday with their family; with two younger sisters barely taller than the tables, and their mother and father, properly chaperoned by their mother (entry was free for girls at ''Le Moulin'' and not all were models of virtue). Beside her is a group consisting of Pierre-Franc Lamy and
Norbert Goeneutte Norbert Goeneutte (23 July 1854 – 9 October 1894) was a French painter, etcher and illustrator; notably for the novel ''La Terre'' by Émile Zola. Biography He was born in Paris into a family that had moved there from Saint-Omer 1850.
(also appearing in ''La balançoire''), fellow painters, as well as Rivière himself. Behind her, amongst the dancers, are to be found
Henri Gervex Henri Gervex (Paris 10 December 1852 – 7 June 1929 Paris) was a French painter who studied painting under Alexandre Cabanel, Pierre-Nicolas Brisset, and Eugène Fromentin. Biography Early years He was the son of Joséphine Peltier and Félix ...
, Eugène Pierre Lestringuez and Paul Lhote (who appears in ''
Dance in the Country ''Dance in the Country'' (French: ''Danse à la campagne'') is an 1883 oil painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is currently kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Background This painting was commissioned in 1882 by the merchant Pa ...
''). In the middle distance, in the middle of the dance hall, the Cuban painter Don Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cardenas is depicted in striped trousers dancing with the model called Margot (Marguerite Legrand). Apparently the exuberant Margot found Solares too reserved and was endeavouring to loosen him up by dancing polkas with him and teaching him dubious songs in the local slang. She was to die of typhoid just two years later, Renoir nursing her until the end, paying both for her treatment and her funeral. Rivière describes the painting as executed on the spot and that not without difficulty as the wind constantly threatened to blow the canvas away. This has led some critics to speculate that it was the larger d'Orsay painting that was painted here, as the smaller would have been easier to control. On the other hand, the smaller is much the more spontaneous and freely worked of the two, characteristic of ''
en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...
'' work.


In popular culture

*A
homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
to this painting appears as the cover art of '' A Night on the Town'', the 1976 album of singer-songwriter
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
with Stewart replacing the man, in the centre, wearing the straw boater.


See also

*
List of most expensive paintings This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The current record price is approximately US$450.3 million (which includes commission), paid for Leonardo da Vinci's ''Salvator Mundi'' (). The painting was sold in November 2017, t ...


References


External links


Top Ten Most Expensive Paintings Sold At Auction
Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

Smarthistory: ''Renoir's Moulin de la Galette''''Impressionism: a centenary exhibition''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this painting (p. 182-186) {{ACArt 1876 paintings Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir Paintings in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay Food and drink paintings Paintings of Montmartre Dance in art