Associated with
Impressionism
Renoir exhibited the painting at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877.
PaintingImpressionism
Bal du moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette shows dancers and friends at an outdoor dance garden in Montmartre. Patches of sunlight break across faces, clothing, and the crowded ground.
- 1876
- Oil on canvas
About Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted the Moulin de la Galette, a popular Montmartre dance garden, in 1876. Couples dance under the trees while a seated group occupies the foreground.
The Musée d'Orsay uses Georges Rivière's recollections to identify nine people. The model Henriette-Anna Leboeuf, called Margot, dances with the Cuban painter Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cardenas. Others include Paul Lhôte, Pierre-Eugène Lestringuez, the sisters Jeanne and Estelle, the painters Franc-Lamy and Norbert Goeneutte, and Rivière himself. The painters Henri Gervex and Samuel Frederic Cordey also posed. They cannot be placed precisely in the crowd.
The woman in the pale dress at the left has room around her moving skirt. Farther back, bodies overlap so closely that separate dances become harder to follow. Renoir varies the crowd's density rather than painting every person with the same clarity.
Sunlight across people and furniture
Blue-violet areas of shade and pale patches cross the clothing. A dark jacket may contain pink, blue, and yellow marks as well as black. These changes are easiest to see on the back of the seated man facing away from the viewer.
The same broken light reaches the ground and the nearby bench. It helps connect people and setting without tracing a firm outline around every body.
Faces near the front remain recognizable. Behind them, hats and heads often become small touches of color. That shift allows a large gathering to fit within the painting without becoming a row of equally detailed portraits.
A large painting for an independent exhibition
Renoir showed the canvas at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877. Its scale gives an ordinary afternoon gathering the space usually associated with more formal subjects.
Gustave Caillebotte owned the painting. It later entered the French national collections through his bequest, accepted in 1896. The Musée d'Orsay now holds it.
From a dance garden to a riverside lunch
Luncheon of the Boating Party gathers a smaller group around a table several years later. The dance painting disperses attention through a large crowd, while the later canvas makes it easier to follow conversations between particular people.
Close reading
Reading the work, detail by detail
Begin with the nearby faces, then move into the dancers. Renoir varies the amount of detail and the space between bodies as the crowd recedes.
1.The nearest women remain distinct
Their faces and clothing are more clearly separated than the figures behind them. The striped sleeve also gives the eye a pattern it can follow.
2.A pale dress marks a moving couple
The light skirt occupies an open patch of floor. Its broad folds distinguish this dance from the tightly packed bodies farther back.
3.Sunlight crosses a dark jacket
Renoir places blue, pink, and pale touches within the dark fabric. The same scattered light appears on people and objects nearby.
4.A table gathers another conversation
The table makes a small group within the larger crowd. Faces turn toward one another rather than toward a single central event.
5.Lamps hang beneath the trees
The repeated round shapes remain visible above the heads. Their supports help define the outdoor venue without a detailed architectural background.
6.Distant figures lose sharp outlines
Small touches stand for faces and clothing. The reduced detail allows the gathering to extend well beyond the people nearest the viewer.
Timeline
1876
Renoir painted Bal du moulin de la Galette, his Montmartre dance scene, in 1876.
1877
Renoir exhibited Bal du moulin de la Galette at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877.
1896
In 1896, the French state accepted Gustave Caillebotte's bequest, including Bal du moulin de la Galette.
1986
In 1986, Bal du moulin de la Galette was assigned to the Musée d'Orsay.
Where to see it
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Check the collection’s website for current display and visiting information before planning a visit.
View the collection recordFrequently asked questions
Are Bal du moulin de la Galette and Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette the same work?
Bal du moulin de la Galette and Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette are French and English titles for Renoir's painting.
Where is the scene set?
Renoir set Bal du moulin de la Galette at the Moulin de la Galette dance garden in Montmartre, Paris.
When did Renoir paint it?
Renoir painted Bal du moulin de la Galette in 1876 and exhibited it at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877.
Why are there pale spots on the clothes?
The pale patches across the crowd represent sunlight filtering through the trees.
Which version is in the Musée d'Orsay?
The Musée d'Orsay holds Renoir's large 1876 Bal du moulin de la Galette as RF 2739. This discussion concerns that canvas, not the smaller version in private ownership.
In the atlas
Depicts
Moulin de la Galette
Renoir's 1876 painting depicts the outdoor dance garden at the Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre.
Displayed at · 1986
Gare d'Orsay
The painting was assigned to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986. The museum occupies the former Gare d'Orsay; collection membership does not guarantee current gallery display.
More by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
If you like Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Explore painters from the same movements and circles.
Paul Gauguin
Stockbroker turned painter who came into art through Camille Pissarro, showed with the Impressionists, and left Europe for Polynesia.
View artist
Gustave Caillebotte
Painter of Haussmann's geometry and the group's organizer-financier; his bequest of Impressionist paintings forced the French state to take the movement in.
View artist
Mary Cassatt
The only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists, invited in by Edgar Degas in 1877 after the Salon jury turned her down. She showed in four of the group's eight exhibitions and lived in France for the last fifty-two years of her life.
View artist
In images
References
References
The sources below include collection records, catalogues, scholarly research, and primary materials that informed this page. They document Bal du moulin de la Galette, its making, and its place in cultural history.
1Bal du moulin de la Galette: public-domain reproduction
WebsiteWikimedia CommonsUsed forThe reproduction is the primary visual source for the close-reading details; rights metadata is preserved separately.
2Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) — The Metropolitan Museum of Art
WebsiteThe Metropolitan Museum of ArtUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Bal du moulin de la Galette page.
3Bal du moulin de la Galette (Auguste Renoir) — Musée d'Orsay
WebsiteMusée d'OrsayUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Bal du moulin de la Galette page.
View source4Il y a 150 ans, Auguste Renoir peignait le Bal du Moulin de la Galette
WebsiteMusée d'OrsayUsed forThe museum's model-by-model identification based on Georges Rivière's recollections.
5Luncheon of the Boating Party — The Phillips Collection
WebsiteThe Phillips CollectionUsed forComparison with the later group painting.
i
Why these sources are here
These references provide the documented foundation for this work's history and interpretation. Claim-level citations remain attached to the specific claims they support.
Explore more resources