Woman and Child in a Garden 1880

Pierre-Auguste Renoir made this small painting with oil on canvas. Renoir's marks are very visible: the thin brushstrokes and bare canvas contribute to its light, airy effect. The rough canvas support peeks through the thinned paint. It is not the smooth academic surface, but a more absorbent ground, like the rough paper used for watercolors. This allowed him to achieve a rapid, shimmering effect, very different from the highly polished surfaces preferred by many of his contemporaries. We see the world through Renoir's active brush, attuned to the shifting atmosphere. He applied his paint quickly and spontaneously, using the material qualities of oil to their fullest expressive potential. The garden here becomes more than a backdrop. Renoir uses the textures and densities of the paint to capture a feeling of a fleeting moment in time. By focusing on the materials and processes, we can see how Renoir pushed the boundaries of traditional painting, embracing the immediacy and expressive potential of his chosen medium.