Dance in the Moulin de la Galette

This picture is one of Renoir’s largest composition. It features the cheerful attitude to life and the Impressionist theme of figures in the open air. The assembled company are enjoying the carefree mood of a Sunday and the agreeable warmth of the sunlight filtering through the leaves. Renoir painted the canvas directly from the scene, the models in the foreground are his friends.

The Moulin de la Galette was a dancing garden, created by converting two old windmills in Montmartre, where the public could come and dance on Sundays.