Nude Woman Reclining c. 1917 - 1919

This is Renoir’s painting of a Nude Woman Reclining, likely done with oil on canvas. The canvas is full of pinks and creamy whites, with lush touches of patterned fabrics, all rendered with these short, feathery brushstrokes. I'm thinking of the model, how she must have felt, lounging in a room full of people and the master himself, Renoir, painting her. I bet she was thinking: "Paint me like one of your French girls!" All jokes aside, what's interesting about the nude here is that the face is so softly out of focus, while the body is more crisply defined. It’s like Renoir isn't trying to capture her personality or character, so much as the soft curves and rolls of her skin, the way light warms her flesh. You know, there's this incredible conversation happening between artists across time, and I see Renoir here chatting with other painters like Titian and Rubens, all exploring the beauty and expressiveness of the human body. It makes you wonder what future artists will say back, right?