Laundresses at Cagnes 1912

Renoir conjured up this scene of Laundresses at Cagnes using oil on canvas. Can’t you just imagine Renoir out here trying to capture this scene! The light, the water, the bodies of the women at work. The painting is a dance of soft brushstrokes and colours, right? He’s working with these warm yellows and greens, mixed with cool blues and violets, to capture the light and atmosphere. I'm wondering what it felt like for Renoir to be here, trying to pin down something so fleeting. Like, how do you paint light dancing on water, or the way a breeze moves through the trees? He probably kept pushing and pulling at the paint, layering it on, wiping it away, trying to get it just right. There’s this one figure, carrying laundry on her head – the line of her back, the way she balances the load. It's classic Renoir, but then it's also like, how many other artists have painted this same scene, in different ways, over and over again? It's a big conversation, you know?