Country Dance Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Description of the painting "Dance in the Country" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre Renoir’s famous trio, Dance in the Countryside, Dance in the City, and Dance in Bougival, was painted in 1883. There is no exact information as to why the artist wanted to paint a series of paintings of dancing couples. All paintings contain the same subject, on them we see a dancing couple.

The painting "Dance in the Village" is distinguished by the fact that we can fully consider the beautiful happy face of the girl. Unlike the other two paintings, where the girl stands to us with his back, or half-turned. The artist shows us a couple dancing on the terrace.

On the right you can see a small table with cups and plates on the tablecloth. The backdrop is a lush green crown of trees. And if you begin to imagine, you can imagine a couple sitting at a tea party, when suddenly they heard the sounds of a waltz and began to dance. The characters themselves in this picture are people close to Renoir, namely his wife and a friend.

The girl is dressed in a ceremonial light dress in a small pattern, she is wearing yellow gloves and a neat cherry-colored hat. In her right hand the girl holds a fan, which she apparently waved on the hot day before the dance. Her face is red-cheeked.

We can tell by her face that she is glad to be here. We can’t see the man’s face, but we can see his stubble, which gives him masculinity. The man is dressed in a classic suit. From his closed eyes and slight smile we can understand that he too is enjoying the action taking place.

The picture is clear and memorable. You don’t need to be a professional to understand what the author wanted to convey. The point of the painting is that we know how to enjoy life and understand that the moment is beautiful when we are together with our loved ones. Simplicity made Renoir famous, it also gave great value to his paintings. Every year Renoir’s paintings sell for a lot of money at auctions.