Focus on Dance at Bougival and explain the Exhibitions.
The painting was widely exhibited, first being shown in London soon after it was painted. At the opening of that show, for which the painting had not quite arrived in time, Colin Bailey notes, "The Academy, London's foremost art journal, lamented the absence of this 'great and audacious masterpiece.'" The painting traveled next to New York in the spring of 1886, where it was once again received with high praise. It was shown in Paris in 1892, then sold in 1894 to Félix François Depeaux who promised Paul Durand-Ruel at the time of the sale to eventually give them it to the Musée de Rouen, something that never happened due to Depeaux needing the money to finance a costly divorce.
Colin Bailey François Depeaux Paul Durand-Ruel