Renoir Masterwork, Musée d’Orsay – Paris, France

I never took an art history class or independently studied the topic, so I’m pretty ignorant in this area. Even so, I recognized this piece and even knew Renoir painted it. I also correctly identified yesterday’s van Gogh self-portrait. Beyond that, my knowledge thins out quickly.

In addition to the spectacular architecture of the Musée d’Orsay, perhaps I enjoyed this museum — despite not appreciating art museums in general — because of the works I could identify. I also like impressionistic and post-impressionistic styles. While recognizing this Renoir, I didn’t know its title. “Bal du Moulin de la Galette” was painted in 1876, depicting the everyday life in the Montmartre neighborhood in Paris. I love the optimism of the piece, showing people in contentment.

I opted for something more than just a photograph of the painting. The woman in the left corner perfectly added that extra touch. Remarkably, I shot this at 1/2 of a second, but she is perfectly sharp — perhaps she was mesmerized. I shot with slow shutter speeds to create abstract motion blurs, which I’ll feature in an upcoming post.

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