Characterized by loose brushwork and a vivid color palette, their paintings challenged traditional notions of the practice.
I’ve been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colors was black, he famously explained.
Who’s Who?
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Bal du moulin de la Galette,” 1876 (detail) (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
The people featured inBal du moulin de laGaletteare much more than a means to experiment with color or brushwork.
In fact, many of them are Renoir’s real-life contemporaries.
Estelle Samary
Jeanne’s sister, Estelle, also stars in the painting.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Bal du moulin de la Galette,” 1876 (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
Goeneutte also features in Renoir’sLa balancoire, or The Swing, a piece set in the moulin’s gardens.
Georges Riviere
Seated next to Goeneutte is Georges Riviere, an art critic.
In 1896, it entered Paris' Musee du Luxembourg, where it was kept until 1929.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Bal du moulin de la Galette” (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
It then hung in the Louvre for 57 years, until finding a permanent home in the Musee d’Orsay.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary,” 1877 (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “La Balançoire,” 1876 (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “In the Studio (Georges Riviere and Marguerite Legrand)” 1876-1877 (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
Vincentvan Gogh, “Le Moulin de la Galette,” 1886 (Photo:Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
