Dancing Girl with Castanets

Dancing Girl with Castanets was painted in 1909 as one of a pair with Dancing Girl with Tambourine, commissions intended as decorative overdoor panels. By this date Renoir's arthritis was severe — he reportedly had brushes tied to his paralysed hands — yet the two dancing figures are among the most physically exuberant of his late works. Castanets connect the figure to a Spanish dance tradition (flamenco or a related folk form), and the choice reflects the persistent Orientalist and Iberian fascinations that ran through French painting from Delacroix onward. The pair of dancers were hung as decorations at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery.

The dancer is set against a warm ochre and green background, her costume treated in rich reds and warm whites that reverberate against the landscape setting. Renoir's late handling — thick, liquid strokes applied with considerable pressure — gives the flesh areas an almost sculptural weight. The outstretched arms and raised head create a strong diagonal axis running counter to the picture plane.