Dancing on Canvas

Dance at Bougival Pierre-Auguste Renoir

French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir created this painting in 1883. Today it can be viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts in the US,

The artwork is one of three pieces in a set commissioned by Paul Durand-Ruel. The painting depicts a scene in the town of Bougival, France. Two dancers are seen surrounded by other café patrons. It represents Renoir’s last step into Impressionism.

Bal du Moulin de la Galette Pierre-Auguste Renoir

French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir created this artwork in 1876 and it is considered to be a masterpiece of Impressionist art. The painting depicts a summer afternoon in Paris, France. People would get together at the Moulin de la Galette to enjoy the cafes and dancing in the courtyard. The painting shows people at tables socializing while in the background two lovers are seen dancing while sunlight beams down through the trees.

The Dancing Class Edgar Degas

French artist Edgar Degas created this oil painting in 1870. It was his first painting of ballet. The artwork shows a Paris Opera dancing lesson. The dancer in the middle is Josephine Gaujelin, a ballerina awaiting the ballet master’s cue to begin. Also seen in the painting is a watering can (used to dampen the rosin on the floor), a top hat used to carry the music, and an empty violin box. These are all props that Degas used in his ballet paintings.

The Dance Foyer at the Opera on the Rue de la Peletier Edgar Degas

French artist Edgar Degas began painting dance motifs about 1870 and went on to paint a series of ballet practice images. In this painting, we see the big hall/foyer of the opera with eleven ballerinas being evaluated. The ballet teacher, dancer, and choreographer Louis Francois Merante is giving commands to the dancers.

Oberon, Titania, and Puck with Fairies Dancing William Blake

English artist William Blake depicts a scene from the Shakespeare play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. In the painting, dancing fairies can be seen in the woods. This artwork is a watercolor showing the fairies forming a ring and dancing around. The King and Queen of the fairies, Oberon and Titania along with Puck look on.

At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created this oil on canvas in 1890. It is the second of his paintings that depict the Moulin Rouge cabaret which opened in Paris, France in 1889. In the painting, two dancers are seen doing the can-can in the middle of the dance hall. On the back of the artwork, a previously found inscription by Toulouse-Lautrec reads: “The education of the new ones by Valentine the Boneless.” This says that the man to the left of the dancing lady is Valentin de Desosse who was a well-known dancer at the Moulin Rouge. He is instructing the newest member of the cabaret. In the front of the painting can be seen various aristocratic figures like a pink-clad lady, poet Edward Yeats, the club owner, and the father of the artist.

El Jaleo John Singer Sargent

American expatriate artist John Singer Sargent created this artwork in 1882. It can be viewed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts in the US.

The painting depicts a Spanish gypsy dancer accompanied by musicians. The artist was inspired by a journey he took to Spain and to North Africa in 1879. The specialized dance the gypsy dancer is doing is called jaleo de jerez. A jaleo is a chorus in the well-known flamenco dance in which dancers and the singer clap,

The Singing Butler Jack Vettriano

Scottish artist Jack Vettriano created this artwork in 1992 and on oil-on-canvas. The original was sold for 744,800 British pounds at an auction in 2004 setting a new record for any Scottish artwork, It became the best-selling art print in the UK with more than a million replicas. The picture also can be seen on calendars and jigsaw puzzles. It earns Vettriano 500,00 British pounds in royalties per year.

In the painting, we see on a beach in Fife, Scotland a man and lady in evening clothes dancing. Unfortunately, the weather is windy and rainy so a maid and butler attempt to hold umbrellas over their heads. The couple is totally unaware of anything but themselves and their dancing.