Dance in the City/ Dance in the Country
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Rachel Crowley
English I Honors
05/03/12
P3

Pierre Auguste Renoir was a man that even at an early age had a mature talent for art. He started painting fine china in a porcelain factory at an early age and moved onto to becoming a world renowned artist. Traveling all across Europe into Asia and the Americas.(Wikipedia 2012). From his floral still lifes to his work with Impressionism, Renoir had an amazing talent and aspiration for art.( Never giving up and never stopping painting even until his last days.(Wikipedia 2012) Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, France on February 25, 1841. In his youth, he worked in porcelain factory where his painting talents were discovered. He painted designs on fine china, and decorations on fans before attending art school. In 1862, he began to learn under Charles Gleyre in Paris, France. In France, he met many famous artists, including Claude Monet, a major influence on his paintings. In his maturity, he traveled everywhere from Algeria, to Madrid, to Sicily.(Wikipedia 2012) In the early 1880s, Renoir visited Italy, opening his eyes to a more traditional style of paintings, instead of his usual Impressionism. This is when he moved away from his contemporary style and started more timeless types of paintings, particularly nudes.(Pierre-Auguste Renoir 2012) In 1890, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, the model in the painting, Dance in the Country, who he had already had a child with. Following their marriage, he painted many daily life scenes of his family and wife. Renoir and Charigothad three total children. Their first Pierre became a stage and film actor and Jean became a filmmaker. Later in his life, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis, impairing his movement, but never stopping him. He painted for the last twenty years, even when he was in a wheelchair. In 1919, he visited the Louvre Museum in France to see all of his paintings that are hung there.(Wikipedia 2012) He died December 3, 1919 at age 78, in his home in Cagne.(Pierre-Auguste Renoir 2012) Dance in the City and Dance in the Country are a pair of paintings painted by Renoir that were designed to be compared. Their format is identical, same width, height but contrasts in the aspect of the dancing. Both paintings were influenced by Renoir’s trip to Italy, and his new style of art. The man in the painting is Renoir’s friend, Paul Lothe, and the woman is his future wife, Aline Charigot. The scene depicts a happy, almost careless, couple. The table behind them in the scene was left messy and a hat is on the floor. The landscape shows a warm. almost summery scene. The colors are bright and warm from the yellow fan in the woman’s hands, her yellow gloves, her white dress with accents of reds and oranges, to her red bonnet. Charigot is looking into the eyes of Renoir while painting, showing a face of love and endearment while Lothe is watching her while they’re dancing with a face of content and love.(Dance in the Country 2012) In Dance in the City, the colors are harsher and colder, representing a more serious scene. The woman in the scene is identified as Suzanne Valadon. The two dancing in the picture are not showing much affection. Both of the dancers are looking away from each other, almost as if they are performing. The landscape is very well-kept, the foliage in the background is the only bright burst of color in the