By the Seashore

Renoir probably combined a studio sitter with coastal studies made in Normandy. The face is carefully controlled while the background remains freer. The museum relates this difference to his study of Italian Renaissance painting during his 1881–82 journey.

The woman in blue faces the viewer. Her firmly constructed figure differs from the freer surroundings.

A decorated blue hat tilts above the face. Its edge gathers attention around the carefully modelled features.

Pale ruffles brighten collar and sleeves. White fabric connects the illuminated face with other parts of the figure.

Rounded wicker chair arms surround the sitter. Their shape supports the body’s quiet, stable position.

Blue-green sea extends behind her. The landscape’s freer strokes can be compared with the face’s gradual transitions.

A folded fan rests in her lap. The small object completes the setting for the pose and the arrangement of hands.

Renoir began as a porcelain painter and later worked alongside Monet. Travel in Italy encouraged a more linear, classical approach to the figure. This work allows comparison of those experiences within one painting.