Dance in the Country

Dance in the Country was painted as a companion to Dance in the City. It shows a couple dancing on the terrace of an outdoor restaurant. They appear to have just left their table, which is covered by a small tablecloth, napkins, a cup and spoon, and a half-filled decanter and glass. Renoir's friend Paul Lhote posed for the dancer in a dark woolen lounge suit; we see him again in an elegant dresscoat with tails in Dance in the City. The red-cheeked, smiling female dancer, more plump than her counterpart in the latter picture, was modeled for by the twenty-three-year-old Aline Charigot, Renoir's mistress of three years, and later his wife.

Related: Dance in the City and Dance at Bougival