The Dancer
1874
Artist, French, 1841 - 1919
The Dancer was one of seven works that Renoir included in the first exhibition of the Société anonyme coopérative des artistes, peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc., which opened in April 1874. In contrast to works by most of the other artists in the group—soon to be dubbed the impressionists—Renoir's paintings were relatively well received. The Dancer in particular was singled out for attention. While some dismissed it as being little more than a sketch and lacking in good draftsmanship (the same criticisms leveled at many of the works on display), others found it graceful and charming, praising its realism and originality of conception. As one writer remarked, "The Danseuse is true to life and has a fine and nervous elegance in its truth." Another admired the dancer's head, which he described as "fresh, alive, with a very simple modeling and a very accurate bearing."
The Dancer inevitably calls to mind the work of Renoir's fellow impressionist Edgar Degas, whose name is now synonymous with depictions of ballet dancers. In contrast to Degas, whose interest lay in depicting dancers in repose, captured in unguarded and unselfconscious moments, Renoir chose to paint a more formal portrait. Both the painting's scale and the figure's prominence (placed in the very center of the composition, she dominates the entire canvas) hark back to traditional portraits, lending this work a gravity somewhat at odds with the painting's modern subject. Shown in profile, her silk-slippered feet placed in classic fifth position, Renoir's dancer is poised and alert as she turns her gaze toward the viewer. Renoir accentuated the dancer's youth, highlighting the roundness of her face, the still boyish flatness of her chest, even the way the fingers of her left hand appear to toy nervously with tulle of her skirt. Although Renoir himself never identified the figure, the model is almost certainly Henriette Henriot, the young actress who posed regularly for the artist in the mid-1870s and whose likeness was featured in La Parisienne (National Museum of Wales, Cardiff), another large-scale painting shown by Renoir in the 1874 exhibition. Renoir skillfully transformed his model's appearance, depicting her with equal verve as both a sweet-faced adolescent on the verge of adulthood and a fashionable performer.
Ultimately, however, Renoir's virtuoso brushwork is the painting's most compelling feature. His paint handling is varied, ranging from the delicate brushstrokes that define the dancer's face to the loose, almost careless application of paint in the picture's background. The dancer's skirt is a true tour de force; Renoir masterfully captured the gauzy softness of the tulle. It floats about her body like a cloud, seeming to dissolve into the hazy background, the fabric as light and insubstantial as mist.
Four years after appearing in this historic exhibition, The Dancer was purchased by Charles-Henri Deudon, who amassed a small but important collection of impressionist paintings. In addition to this work, Deudon would go on to acquire five more paintings by Renoir as well as Manet's Plum Brandy.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 85
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 142.5 x 94.5 cm (56 1/8 x 37 3/16 in.)
framed: 164.1 x 116.2 cm (64 5/8 x 45 3/4 in.) -
Accession
1942.9.72
More About this Artwork
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Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Durand-Ruel et Cie, Paris); sold 17 May 1878 to Charles Deudon [1832-1914], Paris and Nice; his cousin Eugène Deudon [1841-1916]; sold 8 March 1899 to Paul Durand-Ruel [1831-1922, in his private collection], Paris;[1] his family; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, after purchase by funds of the Estate, by 1925;[2] gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] The early provenance according the Anne Distel, "Charles Deudon (1832-1914): collectionneur." La Revue de l'Art no. 86, 1989, p. 64.
[2] "Etats-Unis. Musées et collections," La Revue de l'Art XLVII, no. 266 (May 1925): 157.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1874
Première Exposition, Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculptuers, Graveurs, etc. [First Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1874, no. 141.
1883
Exposition des oeuvres de P.A. Renoir, Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1883, no. 36.
1899
Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1899, no. 73.
1900
Exposition universelle, Paris, 1900, no. 561.
1903
XVIth Exhibition, Vienna Succession, 1903, no. 48.
1905
Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Grafton Galleries, London, 1905, no. 240, as The Ballet Girl.
1914
Art Francais: Exposition d'Art decoratif contemporain, 1800-1885, Grosvenor House, London, 1914, no. 67, repro.
1920
Renoir, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1920, no. 25.
1932
Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1932, no. 406.
1933
Exposition Renoir 1841-1919, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1933, no. 17a.
1937
Renoir. A Special Exhibition of His Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1937, no. 5, repro.
1939
Seven Centuries of Painting. A Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters, California Palace of the Legion of Honor and The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 1939-1940, no. Y-138, repro. (shown at he de Young Memorial Museum).
1941
Renoir Centennial Loan Exhibition 1841-1941 for the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, Duveen Galleries, New York, 1941, no. 7, repro.
1950
Diamond Jubilee Exhibition: Masterpieces of Painting, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1950-1951, no. 76, repro.
1982
Manet and Modern Paris, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 35, repro.
1986
The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986, no. 17, repro.
1987
Loan for display with permanent collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 1987.
1994
Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 42, repro.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 40, repro.
2012
Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting, The Frick Collection, New York, 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
2014
Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Art Market [Paul Durand-Ruel: Le Pari de l'Impressionnisme], Musée du Luxembourg, Paris; The National Gallery, London; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014-2015, French cat., no. 76, repro., English cat., no. 70, repro.
2016
Renoir, Image of Women, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Seoul Museum of Art; The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, 2016-2017, not in catalogue (shown only in Sendai).
Bibliography
1874
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Silvestre, Armand. "Chronique des beaux-arts: Physiologie du refusé - L'Exposition des révoltés." L'Opinion nationale (22 April 1874): 2-3 [transcribed in Berson, Ruth, ed. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886: documentation. 2 vols. San Francisco, 1996: I:39-40].
1903
Heilbut, E. "Die Impressionistenausstellung der Wiener Secession." Kunst und Künstler I, no. v-vi (February-March 1903):180-182, repro.
1904
Mauclair, Camille. L'Impressionisme, son histoire, son esthétique, ses maîtres. Paris, 1904:repro. facing p. 140.
1907
Bénédite, Leonce. "Madame Charpentier and her Children, by Auguste Renoir." The Burlington Magazine. 12, no. 57 (December 1907): 130.
1910
Duret, Théodore. Manet and the French Impressionists. Translated by J.E. Crawford Flitch. London and Philadelphia, 1910:162.
1911
Meier-Graefe, Julius. Auguste Renoir. Munich, 1911:51, repro.
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1912
Meier-Graefe, Julius. Renoir. Paris, 1912: p. 47 repro.
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1918
Vollard, Ambroise. Tableaux, Pastels & Dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paris, 1918: repro. 82.
1919
Vollard, Ambroise. La vie & l'oeuvre de Pierre-August Renoir, Paris, 1919:63.
Duret, Théodore. Histoire des peintres impressionnistes: Pissarro, Claude Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Cezanne, Guillaumin. 2nd ed. Paris, 1919:85, 90.
1920
Meier-Graefe, Julius. Auguste Renoir. 2nd ed. Munich, 1920: 44-46, repro. p. 47.
1921
Rivière, Georges. Renoir et ses Amis. Paris, 1921:18-20, 50, 60, repro. p. 19.
1923
Fosca, François. Renoir. Paris, 1923: 14, repro.
Jamot, Paul. "Renoir (1841-1919)." Gazette des Beaux Arts series 5, vol. VIII, no. 741 (November 1923): 258,272-273, 274, repro.
1924
Fosca, François. Renoir. Translated by Hubert Wellington. London, 1924: 15, plate 1.
Cortissoz, Royal. Seven Paintings by Renoir. Paris and New York, 1924:9, repro.
Vollard, Ambroise Auguste Renoir. Berlin, 1924:56.
Duret, Théodore. Renoir. Paris, 192442, 62-63, repro. pl. 7.
1925
Coquiot, Gustave. Renoir. Paris, 1925: 66, 225.
Cortissoz, Royal. Personalities in Art. New York and London, 1925: 279, 281, 282, repro.
1928
Cortissoz, Royal. "Auguste Renoir and the Cult for Beauty" International Studio (August 1928): 17, repro. p. 19.
Bourgeois, Stephan. The Adolph Lewisohn Collection of Modern French Paintings and Sculptures. New York, 1928:124.
Stein, Leo. A. Renoir 24 Phototypies. Les Albums d'art Druet XIII. Paris, 1928: plate 11.
1929
Meier-Graefe, Julius. Renoir. Leipzig, 1929: 65, repro. p. 74, no. 43.
Besson, George. Renoir. Paris, 1929:7.
1930
Cortissoz, Royal. The Painter's Craft. New York and London, 1930: 229-230, 233.
1931
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 184, repro.
1932
Wildenstein, Georges. "Paintings from America in the French Exhibition." The Fine Arts 18 (January 1932): 54, repro.
Rosenberg, Jakob. "Die Ausstellungen der Nationen in London." Kunst und Kunstler 31 (January-February 1932): 11, repro.
1933
Roger-Marx, Claude. Renoir. Paris, 1933:29, 125, repro. p. 41.
Roger-Marx, Claude. "Unité de Renoir." L'Art vivant 174 (July 1933):291.
Guenne, J. "La religion de Renoir." L'Art vivant 174 (July 1933): repro. p. 277.
Grappe, Georges. "Renoir." L'Art vivant 174 (July 1933):280.
1934
Vollard, Ambroise. Renoir: An Intimate Record. New York, 1934:67, 237
1935
Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York, 1935: 50n., 55-57, 58n., 59, 60n., 64, 116n., 153, 177, 193n. 200n., no. 32, repro.
1937
Comstock, Helen. "The Connoisseur in America: The Renoir Loan Exhibition." The Connoisseur 100, no. 433 (September 1937): 154.
McBride, Henry. "The Renoirs in America: In Appreciation of the Metropolitan Museum's Exhibition," Art News 35, no. 31 (1 May 1937): 158, repro.
1938
Vollard, Ambroise. En écoutant Cézanne, Degas, Renoir. Paris, 1938: 176.
Waldmann, Emil. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 335.
1939
Venturi, Lionello. Les archives de l'impressionnisme. 2 vols. Paris and New York, 1939: I: 153, 289; II: 200, 256.
1940
Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. New York, 1940: 33, 62, 161-162, 337, 370.
1941
Whitehill, Virginia N. Stepping Stones in Nineteenth Century Painting. New York, 1941:32-33.
"L'Exposition du Centénaire de Renoir a la Galerie Duveen." Voix de France (15 November 1941):5, repro.
1942
Mather, Frank Jewett. "The Widener Collection at Washington." Magazine of Art 35 (October 1942): 195-203, repro.
1943
Graber, Hans. Auguste Renoir nach eigenen und fremden Zeugnissen. Basel, 1943: 12, 46, 47, 50, 167
1944
Drucker, Michel. Renoir. Paris, 1944:37, 41, 47, 131, 150, 183-185, 196, no. 24, reprol pl. 24.
Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. London, 1944: 33, 62, 161-162, 337, 370.
1945
Rewald, John. "Depressionist Days of the Impressionists." Art News 43 (1-14 February 1945): repro.
1946
Rewald, John, ed. Renoir Drawings. New York, 1946: 19, no. 27.
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1946: 256, repro. 257.
1948
Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 109, repro.
Leclerc, André. Renoir. New York, 1948: repro. 35.
Zahar, Marcel. Renoir. London, 1948: viii, ix, xi no. 16, repro.
1949
Chamson, André. Renoir. Lausanne, 1949:13, 15.
1950
Pach, Walter. Pierre Auguste Renoir. New York, 1950:44, repro.
A Loan Exhibition of Renoir for the Benefit of the New York Infirmary. Exh. cat. Wildenstein, New York, 1950: 27.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 164, color repro.
Gaunt, William. Renoir. London, 1952: 6, 9, plate 12.
1953
Berr de Turique, Marcelle. Renoir. Paris, c. 1953: 6, 9, repro. plate 12.
1954
Rouart, Denis. Renoir. Geneva, 1954:30,34.
1955
Leymarie, Jean. Impressionisme. 2 vols. Geneva, 1955:II:72, repro.
Rewald, John. Histoire de l'Impressionisme. Paris, 1955:205, 207.
1956
Bérard, Maurice. "Un Diplomate, ami de Renoir." Revue d'histoire diplomatique (July-September 1956): 240.
1959
National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 109, repro.
1960
Daulte, François. "Le marchand des Impressionistes." L'Oeil 66 (June 1960): 54-61, 75 repro.
1961
Fosca, François. Renoir, His Life and Work. London, 1961:41, 46, 47.
Feist, Peter H. Auguste Renoir. Leipzig, 1961:34, 62, no. 13, repro.
1962
Renoir, Jean. _Renoir, My Father-. Boston and Toronto, 1962:168.
Gaunt, William. Renoir. Greenwich, CT, [1962]: 13, 16, repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 324, repro.
Gimpel, René. Journal d'un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux. Paris, 1963: 180.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 111.
Lambourne, Nigel. Renoir: paintings, drawings, lithographs and echings. London, 1965: repro. 8.
Cooke, H. Lester. Galeria Nacional de Washington. Translated by Maria Teresa de la Cruz. Madrid, 1965: 340, repro.
1966
Gimpel, René. Diary of an Art Dealer. Translated by John Rosenberg. New York, 1966: 155.
1967
Feist, Peter H. Auguste Renoir. Leipzig, 1967: 33-34, 62, no. 13, repro.
Walton, P.H. Renoir. New York, 1967:24, no. 21, repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 99, repro.
1970
Renior. Paris, Réalités Hachette, 1970: 123, 234, 250, repro. 111.
1971
Daulte, François. Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I: Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, 1971: 26, 37, no. 110, repro.
Daulte, François. August Renoir. Milan, 1971:26, 30, 86.
Gaunt, William. Renoir. 2nd ed. London and New York:1971:9, 12, color repro pl. 11.
1972
Fezzi, Elda. L'opera completa di Renoir nel period impressionista. Milan, 1972: 83, 94, no. 126, plate 15.
1973
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1973: 316, 318, 319, repro.
1974
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Adhémar, H. and Gache, S. "L'Exposition de 1874 chez Nadar (rétrospective documentaire)." In Distel, Anne, et. al. Centenaire de l'Impresionnisme. Exh. cat.. Grand Palais, Paris, 1974: 257, 258, 259, 266, 269.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 292, repro.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 466, repro. 681.
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1976
Gaunt, William. Renoir. Oxford, 1976: repro. 15.
Benezit, Emmanuel. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinaterus et graveurs de tour les temps et tous les pays. 10 vols. Paris, 1976: 8:691.
1978
De Poli, Franco. Renoir. Munich, 1978:92, repro.
1980
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1980: 438, repro.
Monneret, Sophie (intro). Guida alla pittura di Renoir. Milan, 1980: no.119.
1982
Gaunt, William. Renoir. 3rd. ed. Oxford, 1982: repro. 15
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 462, no. 670, color repro.
White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984: 20-51, 64, 91, 230, repro. 53.
Stuckey, Charles F. "Degas as an Artist: Revised and Still Unfinished." In Guillard, Maurice, ed. Degas form and space. Paris, 1984: 33, repro. 32.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 335, repro.
Fezzi, Elda. L'opera complete di Renoir nel period impressionista 1869-1883. Paris, 1985:no.121, repro.
Arts Council of Great Britain. Renoir. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery , London, Galleries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-1986: 196-197, repro.
1986
Bernard, Bruce. The Impressionist Revolution. London, 1986:64, repro.
1989
Distel, Anne. Les collectionneurs des impressionnistes. Amateurs et marchands. Paris, 1989:157, repro.
Distel, Anne. "Charles Deudon (1832-1914): collectionneur." Revue de l'Art no. 86 (1989):64, repro.
1991
Buisson, Sylvie. Danse et Danseurs en peinture. Paris, 1991:128, repro.
Coman, Florence E. Joie de vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 1, repro.
1996
Berson, Ruth, ed. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886 -- Documentation. 2 vols. San Francisco, 1996: 1:11, 14, 18-19, 23, 25, 27, 29, 34, 37, 40; 2:12, repro.
Sagner-Düchting, Karin. Renoir: Paris and the Belle Epoque. Munich, 1996:78, repro. 79.
Adriani, Götz. Renoir. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Tübingen, 1996: 116, repro.
Roos, Jane Mayo. Early Impressionism and the French State (1866-1874). Cambridge, 1996: 208, fig. 151.
1997
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1997: no. 216, repro.
Bailey, Colin B._ Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an age_.Yale University Press New Haven and London, in association with National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, 1997: 17, 25, 31, 314 n.8.
1998
The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario, 1998: 68, repro.
2001
Tucker, Paul Hayes. "Renoir in the 1870s and '80s: Modernity, Tradition, and Individuality. In Renoir from outsider to old master, 1870-1892. Exh. cat., Tokyo, 2001: 219, repro.
2012
Lilley, Ed. “A Rediscovered English Review of the 1874 Impressionist Exhibition.” Burlington Magazine 154, no. 1317 (December 2012): 844, 845, color fig. 26.
Inscriptions
lower right: A. Renoir. 74.
Wikidata ID
Q17627753