Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

A Sunday dance in Montmartre

The Moulin de la Galette was an open-air dance hall on the hill of Montmartre in Paris, next to old windmills. On Sunday afternoons, working people and artists came to dance, drink and talk under the trees.

Renoir painted the scene in 1876 and showed it at the third Impressionist exhibition in 1877. The canvas is large, 131.5 by 176.5 centimetres, and is now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

His friends posed for it

In the foreground, two young women sit on a bench, one leaning over the other’s shoulder. Many of the figures were Renoir’s friends and acquaintances from Montmartre, including fellow painters and young women from the neighbourhood.

At the right, young men sit at a table with glasses, one in a straw hat. The scene feels relaxed and natural, as if Renoir simply joined a group of friends.

Couples turning on the dance floor

On the left, couples dance. A woman in a pink striped dress turns with her partner, looking out towards us. Behind them, the crowd thickens into a blur of hats, faces and dresses.

Renoir did not paint every face clearly. Figures in the background dissolve into strokes of colour, giving the impression of movement and noise.

Sunlight through the leaves

The most striking effect is the light. Sun filters through the trees and lands in round patches on clothes, faces and the ground. Renoir painted those spots in pale blue, pink and white, directly on top of the shapes.

Some critics at the time disliked this, saying the figures looked stained. Today, it is the feature most admired: the painting captures the flicker of light and shade on a summer afternoon.

Gas lamps above the crowd

Above the dancers, round globe lamps hang from wires, and the green roof of the hall appears between the trees. These lamps were lit in the evening, when dancing continued after dark.

The painting was bought by Gustave Caillebotte, a painter and collector who supported his Impressionist friends. He left it to the French state, and it entered the national collections through his bequest in 1896.

Montmartre in 1876

In the 1870s, Montmartre was still a village on the edge of Paris, with windmills, gardens and vineyards. It was cheaper than central Paris and attracted artists, writers and working people. The Moulin de la Galette took its name from a windmill and from the small cakes, galettes, sold there.

Renoir rented a studio nearby, in the rue Cortot, with a large garden. He carried his huge canvas to the dance hall each day, with help from friends, and painted on the spot, or at least made extensive studies there.

A picture of happiness

Renoir loved to paint people enjoying themselves. The Moulin de la Galette shows dancing couples, people chatting at tables, children and friends, all in a relaxed and joyful mood. There is no drunkenness, no poverty, no conflict. The scene is idealised, a vision of pleasure and youth.

This optimism is typical of Renoir. He once said that a painting should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty.

A record price

Renoir painted a smaller version of the scene, now in a private collection. In 1990, it was sold at auction in New York for 78.1 million dollars, then one of the highest prices ever paid for a painting. The buyer was the Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito, who also bought Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr Gachet the same week.

The Caillebotte bequest

The large version, now in the Musée d’Orsay, was bought by the painter and collector Gustave Caillebotte, a friend of the Impressionists. When he died in 1894, he left his collection to the French state. The bequest was controversial, and only part of it was accepted, but the Moulin de la Galette entered the national collection.

Where to see it

Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette hangs in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more of the world’s best-loved works, explore our top 100 most famous paintings.

Questions about Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

What was the Moulin de la Galette?

An open-air dance hall in Montmartre, popular on Sunday afternoons.

Where is the original?

Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Who are the people?

Many were Renoir’s friends and acquaintances from Montmartre.

How large is it?

131.5 × 176.5 centimetres, oil on canvas.

What was a galette?

A small flat cake sold at the dance hall, which gave the place its name.

Who left the painting to the state?

Gustave Caillebotte, through his bequest of 1894.

Sources and image credit

• Musée d’Orsay: Bal du moulin de la Galette
• Wikimedia Commons: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

Faithful public-domain reproduction of Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.