‘Bal à Bougival’ (Dance at Bougival), oil on canvas, 71.6 inches × 38.6 inches, was painted by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 -1919) in 1883. Renoir was a leading painter in the Impressionist movement and was known for celebrating beauty, especially feminine sensuality. As a prolific artist he painted several thousand canvases and his artworks have been acknowledged as the most well-known and frequently reproduced works in art history.

In ‘Bal à Bougival’, he painted Suzanne Valadon, who was also romantically linked with him, dancing with Eugene Pierre Lestringuez. This canvas is different from other paintings in the series as it shows some tension between the dancers as the woman pulls her face from her partner and there is a no sense of intimacy between them. It is exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. n — M.I.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 23rd, 2015

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