Études 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir made this drawing, Études, in France, and though we don’t have a firm date for it, it likely coincided with the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century. Here, we see a series of studies of women, and as the title “études” suggests, this is a sheet of sketches rather than a finished work. Renoir’s looser style, which was very radical at the time, can be seen as a response to the increasingly rigid academic art institutions that dominated French art. The Impressionists sought to capture the fleeting, everyday moments of modern life rather than idealized historical or mythological scenes. Renoir and his peers challenged the traditional hierarchies of the art world, pushing for a more democratic and accessible art. Art historians study paintings like these in relation to exhibition records, reviews, and other archival documents. They help us to understand how artworks reflect and shape the society and institutions around them.