By the Seashore

The painting’s story and details

A woman sits in a wicker chair before the sea. Renoir seems to have painted her on the beach, although the museum considers a studio setting more likely. Studies from the Normandy coast may have supplied the background. This painting of 1883 brings travel observations together with a carefully arranged sitting.

Her face turns towards us, with her eyes looking straight ahead. Eyelids, nose and lips have precise contours, and the transitions across her cheeks are smooth. Beside them the background breaks into separate strokes. The different handling becomes apparent along the edge of her face, where Renoir takes particular care to maintain its form.

The hat tilts, with its ribbon passing beneath her chin. White trimming crosses dark blue patches and a coloured ornament. Small strokes describing fabric sit directly beside smooth skin. Renoir allows the elaborate hat to remain varied in texture while preserving the clarity of the face beneath it.

A white collar and cuffs bring light back into the dark dress. The white contains blue and pinkish tones; the blue includes green. Colour shifts even within a small piece of fabric. In 1869 Renoir worked beside Monet on the Seine, exploring light and broken brushwork before these more restrained experiments in portraiture.

The chair is painted with warm yellow and ochre strokes. Its back supports the figure while a rounded arm curves around her lap. Short repeated marks suggest the weave. This ordinary furnishing anchors the pose in space, while the sea behind her is handled much more freely.

Several pale sails dot the water, with a sunlit coast stretching into the distance. Blue, green and lilac strokes remain distinct instead of merging into an even surface. They give the sea a different texture from the face. Figure and landscape share the canvas while retaining different degrees of finish.

Her hands rest above light patterned fabric in her lap. Cuff, fingers and folds have closely related tones, with a thin dark line standing out between them. Renoir carefully establishes their positions.

Renoir studied Renaissance painting in Italy in 1881–82. Afterwards he became especially interested in clear drawing and solidly constructed figures, calling his new manner dry. Here it coexists with the quick brushwork of earlier years. Impressionism’s history includes this turn: a painter returning to the old masters to change his own modern art.