Dance in the City Pierre-Auguste Renoir Musee d'Orsay, Paris |
Art enters into us through our senses. Then we start looking at, our rating about the use of colours, the overall composition, and the painting technique the artist has used while painting the art piece.
This happens when a man or a woman with some artistic knowledge looks at an art piece. Ordinary viewers would not go into such deep detail. He or she would see, would smile, and then clap, and finally would move to a cafeteria situated in a corner of the art gallery.
Understanding an art piece is a technical issue. In a painting, the colours co-exist, mostly in a chiaroscuro. The frame of
a painting pronounces many possible meanings. When we look at a painting, our
first reaction would be to the colours and the figures painted. Then
we turn to its technical side: how beauty is re-created by creative skill. We can please ourselves more if we closely look at how the hues are deployed and the shades of
every colour are applied in the painting. Space created between the objects
and the background would add rhythm to the painting. The feel of volume, created by using different tones of the colours would make the painting lively.
Once our eyes are satisfied with the physical aspects of an art piece, our minds turn to
think about the other features for which the art is known for. A
painting is more than the colours spread on canvas. Look at the painting Dance in the City. It is a masterpiece
by Renoir. It tells a
story, provided we know about the life of Renoir, the master artist of the
impressionism style of painting.
The lady painted is Suzanne Valadon. She was
an artist herself. She had modelled for Renoir, for many of his
paintings. If we look at the women painted by Renoir, we would see how
lovely and delicately he had painted them. All
the women seem to rejoice in their state of feeling themselves so pretty, and
Renoir had painted a sense of freedom on their faces. But in this painting, the
story is somewhat different.
Evaluating The Painting: If we see the colours and the
getups of the lady, in The Dance in City, we recognise the melodies
of colours. The woman looks pleasingly balanced and stylish in her appearance.
She depicts good mannerism. But when we turn our eyes on the face, we can read
another story. Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919) was a master of
impressionism, during his career of forty years. He would not miss celebrating
beauty.
But in this painting, the tight-lipped face of the lady is painted
unusually featureless. Expressionless. She seems devoid of the usual friendly
expression of a woman so dancing. The model is Suzanne who often modelled
for Renoir. It is believed that Renoir had some reservations about her, as she
was an intellectual woman. He preferred the women who can be docile and submissive,
it is believed. Suzanne was an artist herself, she earned much by posing as a
model for other artists, too. Above all, she would dance with many men and
enjoy her life. Here Renoir, for an unknown reason, seems to paint her dancing act as if he wanted to punish her!
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Dance in Bougival Pierre-Auguste Renoir Oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
Before becoming a regular model for the renowned artists of Paris, Suzanne
was a dressmaker. Naturally, she would have designed the dress she put on.
There can be another reason for her displeasure. She was believed to be of such
a wild nature that she might have disliked her being postured in an intimate
act like dancing. This is all an artist like Renoir would depict while
painting such a scene; this is the reason why masterpieces represent the social
culture. The master artists portray the mood of the models, too.
Dance in The country Pierre-Auguste Renoir Musee d'Orsay, Paris |
Evaluating Dance in The Country: In his masterpiece Dance in The country, things are quite different.
The theme is the same: a dancing couple. The man is the same: Renoir himself. But here the dancing woman is not
Suzanne Valadon. The model is Aline Chariot, who would be Renoir’s wife. Before
she started modelling and became Renoir’s wife, she led the life of a common woman: sewing clothes and earning her living. Renoir himself praised Aline's dancing.
He had once told her son that his mother, Aline, is a good dancer. Thus he
believed and thus he painted.
Aline was believed to be docile and submissive. Compared to Suzanne, she was almost a woman whom Renoir would like. It is beyond doubt that Renoir felt more comfortable with her, and he painted her as a happy woman. If we read the painting with a penetrating eye, we can see that element in any painting under our observation. However, it is the greatness of an artist that makes a painting so speaking of the emotions, making the eyes of the viewers' so contented. We all go for seeing art and feeling grace, beauty and the passion the artist has posted on a canvas. That is how human eyes, see; that is what their eyes, minds and senses seek while visiting a gallery of any art.
If we are to evaluate the above painting further and if we are to say something more about
the art we see, this painting Dance in The country depicted the
whole-hearted fun enjoyed by the dancing couple. The dancing woman's
wholehearted pleasure is visible through her widened lips and the shining
teeth. Here her face is drawn enjoying the surrounding and the dance. If we
look at the pencil sketch of the painting, we may think that her face is also
tight-lipped. But in the final painting, Aline looks gorgeous and playful.
All the three dancing couples shown here represent the lifestyle of
contemporary Paris, the capital of France, the capital of art. Look at the
dresses of the women: shining with the light and soft creases tell the wealth they would have possessed. The men have also the gentlemen’s attire. Their
style of dancing and the escorting behaviour with the ladies brand them as
members of the upper class of contemporary society. It is rightly said that the
work of an artist represents society more accurately than the writing of a
historian. Renoir was a visual historian.
Deeper Evaluation: I have discussed this subject
with one of my artist friends. She had described the above story in
her own words: I get the 'feeling' that Renoir is somehow trying to possess Suzanne. Hee seems to be overly attentive and almost domineering with the lady,
and she seems to be pulling back - she is dancing with him in a polite and
proper fashion and 'pulling back', but she is hoping the music will be over
soon. The dance with his wife tells a different story - he holds her like
an attentive husband should and maybe this was expected in that society, but
there is a distance between the embrace - the wife seems to be moving forward
into him and he is keeping his distance.
I think he desired Suzanne and he certainly is 'the hunter' - but alas his advances were met with a stiff coldness and this must've been like a slap in the face??? The reason for the dislike, you know the whole issue of woman been looked down upon and expected to be submissive (in those days) - she must have been a fairly modern, independent, an educated one and was not prepared to subject herself to any kind of bullying!!! [All the paintings are in Public Domain, taken from Wikimedia Commons.]
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