Dance at Bougival

Renoir's dancing couple, painted in 1883: she is in a soft pink ruffled dress and a red bonnet, head tipped down and eyes half closed; he is in a dark blue suit and a straw hat with his face hidden behind her. Cafe tables, glasses of beer and figures in hats sit in dappled green shade behind them, and a small posy of blue flowers lies dropped on the pale ground.

The brushwork is loose and broken, so colour runs straight across piece edges. The pink skirt and the pale ground are harder than the tall format suggests. Finished size 40.6 x 81.3cm.