Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at Bougival - Essay Example

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Bougival, 1883 Image view: Dance at Bougival, 1883 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir Retrived: http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/current.html Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Bougival, 1883 When viewing different art forms at Philadelphia Museum of Art, there were many attractive paintings and sculptures that caught my attention. The most striking art from was Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Bougival, painted by Paul Durand-Ruel in 1883. I have always had the mixed feeling of romance compassion, sometimes trying to separate the two and when I was gazing at this painting, the same feelings transpired inside my soul in undivided attention. When one is a lover of art, it is not what people say about the art that makes it so unique; it is the reflection that we get from it that makes it outstanding. The “Dance at Bougivel” painting has two emotions in it, perplexed by the use of different colors and the impressions on the faces of characters present on it. There is a gentleman in a classic-blue old suit and a yellow hat that is holding a lady and they seem to dancing to the tune of a classic song. The man is faces her lady in a romantic way trying to create an impression on her while she does not face him directly. It created a kind of romanticism that is not different from what we know today; the extent a person goes to create an impression to his lover, but she is reluctant to reciprocate her feelings to him until she is sure that she is “safe”. The two lovers are clad in a manner that suggests that this dance was a special moment for them, a date. One may wonder what was in the mind of Paul Durand-Ruel when he finished this piece of art. Literature reveals that Ruel paid attention to impressionism. He dedicated his art to creating paints which portrayed passion and which, has influenced the modern way of life. During the year 1883, Ruel is said that he used his work to illuminate the experiences he had encountered in romance. His passion for art began when he inherited art gallery that was founded by his parents. Paul Durand-Ruel was born 1831 and died in 1922. By the early 1870, Paul developed an interest in painting and he invested in promoting the work of the young artists who would later be known as the impressionist. Paul started promoting their work which made him to gain exclusivity in selling their work and paying them some money at monthly basis. As a result, this form of business gave Paul a deeper interest in art, hosting exhibitions or monographic and opening several branches in New York, Boston and Brussel. He became a collector around the world and at the age of 88, the impressionist had influenced him insofar that he dedicated his career towards exhibiting paintings on impressionism (Jiminez 537). The painting seems to show that it was an open-air café where there couples in the background who are talking as they drink their coffee. Although other features are visible in the background, the center of attention is the woman in a long dress. The woman does just draw our attention; she also draws the attention of the gentleman who is holding her. Renoir used intense color and brushwork to increase the intensity of pleasure that can be felt on the paint. The woman’s face with a bright smile creates an impression of a satisfaction of the pleasure and romances that her lover is providing. Her face framed by red bonnet, she is the center of attention both to viewers and her companion. The color seemed to be faint and lashed, and the outline of the two companions seemed to be faintly painted. Such a combination creates an image of fairly tales, dancing through their magical wands and expressing passion. Renoir seemed to have a specific purpose for using the faint outlining on the characters; he wanted to show the presence of love on this paint. The choice of colors also depicts romance. For example, there is a purple flower on the floor which seems to have been thrown at the two dancing couples. One can imagine that it was a way of others congratulating the couples as they took to the stage. The woman’s dress is painted with light pink, perhaps showing the choice of dress color during those times that women preferred when they were going on a date. The gentleman is nicely clad in a blue suit to extend an impression of a date. Everyone in this open-air café seems to be happy. It looks like a café in the spots of city dweller where people cannot afford the luxury and expensive setting of a high-class café. For example, the couples in the background seem to be dressed in cheap clothes. The furniture is also not of the high-class; by the view of the table and the chair in the background. The floor of the café is not well furnished; an appearance which is common in cafés for city dwellers. Spying on the people in the background, it is noticeable that Renoir used much faint colors that his portrait so as to express his views of the main characters-the gentleman and the lady. Here, the faint colors in the background were intended to draw the attention of the views to the two characters that are in the front. He colors in the background appear to be fading; indicating that they are not merrymaking. There appears to be more men than women in this café, creating the impression that they went to there to hunt women. There is a reason why Renoir chose this setting to create impressionism. First, the gentleman seems to be focused on impression the lady. One can interpret that he went to a great deal to get a good suit so that he could be presentable to her woman on that special occasion. Although the woman seems to be well clad, she seems to be dancing to the movements of her partner and this shows that the two have been lovers, most probably they city dwellers who wanted to mark an important day in their relationship by going on a date in a city dwellers’ café. The two lovers appear to be the only ones dressed expensively to certainly because they were on a date. However, the suit that the gentleman is wearing appears to be casual, showing that it did not require one to be dressed formally so that he could impress a woman in this café. Renoir similar focus when he painted this picture. He was interested in showing impressionism in romance and during that time, many artists focused on the same subject. The choice of colors is different from the art forms that we had learned in class; they are much faint but those from lecture notes were dense. The iconography in this panting is similar object that we learned in artwork. The painter presented the object of attention in the front of the picture; however, the main difference is that this painter used more light colors to express the theme of impressionism. Works Cited Jiminez, Jill Berk. Dictionary of Artists Models. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2013. Print Read More