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Bal du moulin de la Galette Bal du moulin de la Galette is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Muse dOrsay in Paris and is one of Impressionisms most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon atMoulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening. Like other works of Renoirs early maturity, Bal du moulin de la Galette is a typically Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering light. From 1879 to 1894 the painting was in the collection of the French painter Gustave Caillebotte; when he died it became the property of the French Republic as payment for death duties. From 1896 to 1929 the painting hung in the Muse du Luxembourg in Paris. From 1929 it hung in the Muse du Louvre until it was transferred to the Muse dOrsay in 1986. Smaller version Renoir painted a smaller version of the picture with the same title. This painting is in a private collection. For many years it was owned by John Hay Whitney. On May 17, 1990, his widow sold the painting for US$78 million at Sothebys in New York City to Ryoei Saito , the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Company, Japan. | 
