LOVE, what else matters?

_{Dance in the Country by Pierre Auguste Renoir. Photograph: Musee d’Orsay, Paris}

Dance in the Country (1883)

Renoir’s lovers are swept away by music, dance and summer’s heat – and by each other. Their al fresco meal has been abandoned in disarray; a hat (his?) has tumbled to the ground; and she’s only just managing to keep hold of her fan as he grasps her by the wrist and waist. The whole painting seems to sway. And the crowning glory of this beautifully soft and sultry composition, with the hint of feather beds to come, is the smile on the girl’s lovely face. Candidly directed straight towards the viewer, it says that she couldn’t be happier. -The Gaurdian