It is only in Dance in the Country, the companion to Dance in the City, where the dancing couple seems to be having the whole-hearted fun that dancing entailed. Renoir begins to show more respect for the woman portrayed and allows her to smile. The sketches show a progression to this teeth-showing smile in the final painting.
In his first sketch, there is very little detail, and unclear identity of the woman. Her face barely has features. There is a faint gray mouth, but its hard to see a smile yet. Renoir seemed to be playing with the idea of the mouth. He wasn’t sure what the feeling of the painting was yet. His second sketch is more defined and more clearly shows the features of the dancers, making the woman’s mouth more important. The sketch outlines her lips with detail and we can see that her lips form a curve slightly upwards, yet her teeth do not show. Her lips are still held tightly together, although there is a curve in the sides of her mouth. Renoir moves closer with this sketch to a happy smiling woman, but we still sense some doubt from him as to whether he will allow this woman to be happy.
An examination of the final painting Dance in the Country reveals a truly happy woman with a clear smile, telling us that Renoir must have changed his feelings about the model. In this painting, the woman’s mouth curves upward in a definite smile. She is the only woman in these dancing couples with an open mouth with teeth shining through. Happiness radiates from those smiling lips, showing she is enjoying dancing. Renoir must have felt very differently for the woman depicted in Dance in the Country compared to his other paintings. Upon consideration of her identity, we understand that he did feel differently about her. The woman in Dance in the Country is Aline Charigot, Renoir’s future wife. She was a working-class woman, a seamstress (Dumas 53). Yet, she was not quick-witted and conniving like Suzanne Valadon. Renoir liked her for her dependability and country values (Dumas 2). She was more modest and down to earth than Suzanne. Aline did not threat his reputation, but instead supported him in his painting (Renoir 206). Renoir felt more comfortable with Aline and thus allowed her to be happy and enjoy dancing with a smiling mouth. Renoir probably could see himself dancing with her there, as her eyes do look at the painter instead of her partner or off in the distance. Further, Renoir and Aline danced together in their courtship and Renoir admired her for her dancing, as he told his son Jean: “Your mother waltzed divinely. I’m afraid I stepped all over her feet” (qtd. Renoir 202). This quotation aids our understanding of Renoir’s depiction of Aline in this painting. Renoir felt Aline was a wonderful dancer, and thus portrays her smiling when she does so. It is this difference in identity from Dance at Bougival and Dance in the City that causes Renoir to depict the woman smiling in Dance in the Country. He felt very lovingly towards Aline and he thought she danced well, so he painted her with a smile.
Renoir, Auguste. Dance in the Country study. 1883. from Vollard, Ambroise. Pierre-Auguste Renoir : paintings, pastels and drawings. San Francisco : Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1989.
Renoir, Auguste. Dance in the Country study. P. Rosenberg Collection. 1883.
Renoir, Auguste. Dance in the Country. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. 1883.