Two Young Women in a Landscape 1916

Two Young Women in a Landscape, made by Renoir, shows us the lusciousness of paint applied with a kind of voracious pleasure, capturing a hazy summers day. I wonder what it would have been like to stand in that field with Renoir, watching him work. Renoir’s strokes capture light, making it tangible. You can almost feel the heat radiating from the canvas. I imagine him squinting, dabbing at the canvas, trying to capture the fleeting moment. See the way he's rendered the woman's dress with such airy brushstrokes, how the colours meld into one another. It’s thick in places, thin in others. It seems so informal, effortless even, but I bet Renoir worked hard to make it look this way. It is a conversation between him and other painters through time. Painting isn't about fixed meanings, it's about opening up spaces for interpretation, allowing for different ways of seeing and experiencing the world.