Le Moulin de la Galette, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was a leading French Impressionist, although he later broke away from the movement to paint in other styles. He spent much of his early life in appalling poverty and in his later years was afflicted with severe arthritis which made painting difficult and painful. However, throughout his life he maintained a positive, cheerful outlook that radiates through his work, his “Ball [or Dance] at Le Moulin de la Galette” being a typical example, and probably his most celebrated painting.
This painting dates from 1876 and was exhibited at the third Impressionist Exhibition in 1877, the last such at which he exhibited. It depicts a scene at a popular Paris venue, a café in Montmartre which was close to where Renoir was living at the time. It took its name from the fact that it was based on an old windmill and specialised in serving “galettes”, a popular type of pancake.
The poorer people of Paris would flock here in their hundreds on summer Sunday afternoons, dressed in their best clothes, to dance on the space outside the café, and to eat, drink and socialise. Renoir regularly took his easel and paints with him to the “Moulin” and composed the work on the spot over a number of weeks. His friends and regular models posed for most of the figures in the foreground of the painting, although there are many more to…