Bal du Moulin de la Galette
Ramon Casas, 1890
Bal du Moulin de la Galette is one of Ramon Casas's best-known works, painted between 1890 and 1891 during his third stay in Paris. Although the title points to the famous Parisian dance hall, Casas did not seek the festive atmosphere of the place. Unlike the lively scenes that Renoir had painted in 1876 and Toulouse-Lautrec in 1889, he chose a dimly lit room seen from a wide panoramic angle, where only two figures dance while others in the foreground remain indifferent to what is happening. The result is a melancholy and sordid scene. A cold, almost monochromatic palette and a strong dominance of chiaroscuro reinforce this pessimistic tone, closer to the sensibility his friend Santiago Rusiñol was showing at the time than to the cheerful character of the subject. The painting held a prominent place in the major solo exhibition Casas staged at the Sala Parés in 1900, a sign of how important it was to the artist.
- Painter
- Ramon Casas
- Date
- 1890
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 100 × 814 cm
- Museum
- Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
- Movement
- Catalan modernism, Art Nouveau
- Genre
- genre art
- Depicts
- dance, Le Moulin de la Galette
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