How to Read Paintings: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir

The dappled light at an afternoon party

Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Oil on canvas. 131 × 175 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France. Image source Wikimedia Commons

I have vivid memories of first seeing this painting. The experience was something of a revelation to me, for whilst I had seen many Impressionist paintings in reproduction, viewing this work in its full technicolour splendour seemed to give me an insight into what Impressionism truly was.