The open-air cafés of suburban Bougival, a town on the river Seine west of Paris, were popular recreation spots for city dwellers, including the Impressionists. Here, at one such café—its floor littered with cigarettes, burnt matches, and a small bouquet of flowers—an amateur boatman in a straw hat sweeps his stylish partner along in a waltz. The touch of their gloveless hands, their flushed cheeks and intimate proximity, suggest a sensuous subtext to this scene. The son of a dressmaker and a tailor, Renoir delighted in capturing intricate details of contemporary fashions, such as the woman’s red bonnet trimmed with purple fruits.
– Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

SKU: 70202
Creator: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Date: 1883
Original Medium: Oil on canvas
Original Size: 71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in.
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston