Baile en la ciudad

In 1883 the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel asked Renoir for a pair of near life-size dancing couples, one refined and one rustic, meant to hang together. This is the polished half. A man in evening black turns a woman across a cool ballroom, her satin dress catching the light, her face half hidden. The country version beside it is warmer and looser, all open air and flushed cheeks. The models cross over in a way worth knowing. The elegant city dancer is Suzanne Valadon, then an artist's model who would become a serious painter herself, while the country partner is Aline Charigot, the woman Renoir would marry.