181.9 x 98.1 cm (71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in.)
Oil on canvas

Inscriptions: Lower right: Renoir. 83.

Classification: Paintings
Type, sub-type: Genre - Exterior

On view in the: Sidney and Esther Rabb Gallery (European Art 1870–1900)

The open-air cafés of suburban Bougival, on the Seine outside Paris, were popular recreation spots for city dwellers, including the Impressionist painters. Renoir, who was primarily a figure painter, uses intense color and lush brushwork to heighten the sense of pleasure conveyed by the whirling couple who dominate the composition. The woman's face, framed by her red bonnet, is the focus of attention, both ours and her companion's.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Picture Fund, 1937
Accession number: 37.375

Provenance/Ownership History: Please note: The history of ownership is not definitive or comprehensive, as it is under constant review and revision by MFA curators and researchers.

April 16, 1883, deposited by the artist with Durand-Ruel, Paris; 1886, sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris [see note 1]; February, 1886, transferred to Durand-Ruel, New York; September, 1891, transferred back to Paris; January 2, 1894, sold by Durand-Ruel, Paris to Félix-François Depeaux (b. 1853 - d. 1920), Rouen; May 31 - June 1, 1906, Depeaux sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, lot 38 to Depeaux's brother-in-law, Edmond Décap, Paris; by descent to Maurice Barret-Décap, Biarritz, France; 1937, sold by Barret-Décap, possibly through Anthony H. Manley, Paris [see note 2] to the dealers Paul Brame (b. 1898 - d. 1971) and César de Hauke (b. 1900), Paris, for Jacques Seligmann et Fils, Paris [see note 3]; March 19, 1937, transferred from Seligmann, Paris, to Jacques Seligmann and Co., New York; April, 1937, sold by Seligmann, New York, to the MFA for $150,000. (Accession Date: May 5, 1937)

NOTES:
[1] The provenance information given here (until 1937) is taken from the exhibition catalogues "Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age" (National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Art Institute of Chicago; and Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1997), p. 314 and "Renoir" (Hayward Gallery, London; Grand Palais, Paris; and MFA, Boston, 1985-1986), p. 236, cat. no. 67 and from François Daulte, "Auguste Renoir: Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint" (Lausanne, 1971), cat. no. 438.

[2] Maurice Barret-Décap owned the painting until at least February 9, 1937, as his correspondence with Seligmann attests. The provenance provided by Seligmann at the time of the painting's acquisition lists the name of Anthony Manley after that of Barret-Décap. The gallery's shipping papers from March 19, 1937, note that it was purchased from Manley on February 13 (year illegible; presumably 1937); Manley also wrote to Seligmann on April 3, 1937, regarding the payment of interest on the painting. It is possible that Barret-Décap sold the work to Seligmann through Manley, that the two men owned it jointly, or that Manley owned the work for a very short period of time, around February 9-13, 1937.

[3] De Hauke was a sales representative for Jacques Seligmann and Co. While he purchased works of art that were sold by the gallery, the ownership of the objects was often officially shared by several art dealers, and the transactions became quite complicated. De Hauke and Brame worked together on several occasions.

This object is included in the following Selected Tour(s):

• All European Paintings
• French Paintings
• Highlights of European Paintings
• Director's Choice Audio Tour
• MFA Images: Romance
• MFA Images: MFA Icons
• MFA Images: European Impressionism & Related Works
• Draft: 100 Works for World Children
• MFA Images: Mobile
• Wallpaper
• MFA Images: Family Room
• WordUp