La gavotte

Figures dance and recline on a green lawn — a woman in a yellow striped skirt spins at center, surrounded by nude and semi-clothed figures in red-orange and pink flesh tones. A couple embraces in the background at the right, near a blue tree. A second blue tree mass and a small green tree frame the scene. The paper is left largely bare at the top, with the green grass painted in broad wet washes. The whole composition is loose and rapid, with pencil underdrawing visible beneath the watercolor. A gavotte is a French folk dance, and the subject connects to Derain's ongoing interest in pastoral and classical leisure scenes — dancing figures in a landscape, a theme with roots in fête galante painting.