Ten years before Renoir was born, the first steam-train had started in France, then the constructions of the railway was finished. People lived in the village went to Paris while the ones lived in Paris went to the village. The convenient traffic impelled the increasingly frequent exchanges of people. As the modern city, the population of Paris got more and more densely. When Renoir was 20 years old, the newspaper reported that:" People are born for traveling, traveling is human's freedom". Leisure activities became part of people's daily lives, the ball at the Moulin street also became the new place of recreation for the Parisians naturally and attracted many blue-collars who came from the village to make a living in Paris. The original tranquil and peaceful Montreal changed its appearances dramatically.
Ball At The Moulin De La Galette
In 1876, Renoir completed the painting of "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette". At that time, Montmartre located in the suburbs of Paris, where leisure and quiet hills covered with vineyards surrounded by some vegetable gardens. And there were some mills and scattered windmills. One of the windmills was belonged to the Dupree family, but they transformed it into an outdoor cafe suddenly named "The ball of the Moulin Street" at that time. Perhaps when one thing is rare, it becomes precious. The reputations of this cafe spread like wildfire suddenly and it was known widely. It had become the most popular entertainment, a pancake called Galette was its special dishes.The dance floor of this cafe was retrofitted from a quad rate flat-roofed garage and with an orchestra special stage. The ticket was 25 centimes, and one had to pay another 25 centimes to enter the dance floor. The tailors, female apprentices, students under the hills and painters in the street were all fond of this new cafe dance hall. Renoir and his friends Edgar Degas were regular customer of the cafe. Renoir was fascinated by the open and lively atmosphere which also belongs to civilians of the dance hall, so he decided to take his canvas to the cafe and intended to complete a painting there.
After ten years, Vincent Van Gogh who lived abroad in Paris was also depicted various landscape painting of the Montmartre hills in the themes of this cafe. The Montmartre in Van Gogh's works still remains the full-bodied and peaceful hills with the rural favors. A few years later, "Le Moulin de la Galette" was completely different under the brush of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It had become a place which exuded vulgar odors. In addition, Picasso who came to Paris from Barcelona lived in the village and also completed a work on the same theme.
Picasso got inspired from the work of Renoir which was bequeathed to the museum six years ago. The images on his canvas were no longer the unaffected men and women at the age of Renoir, they were all gentlemen and ladies entertained themselves from the games. The 30 years old Picasso was addicted to alcohol and no longer interested in the feelings of the people at the cafe. The Moulin Rouge in his paintings was desolate and miserable.
