Child’s Head by Auguste Renoir

The capturing of scenes from daily bourgeois life characterizes the major works of Impressionist painting of the late nineteenth century. Through this portrait in action, the painter immortalizes the grace of a daily gesture with great lightness. Auguste Renoir reveals here his talent for transcribing female elegance in his canvas entitled “Child’s Head” with a lot of naturalness. The harmony of bluish and sandy tones creates a peaceful atmosphere full of spring freshness.

A young woman in profile, facing left, is captured at the moment she adjusts her white straw hat adorned with a wide red ribbon and a flower. Her raised hands delicately hold the edges of the hat, revealing her long, chestnut hair falling in a cascade down her back. She wears a white summer dress with long sleeves, belted at the waist by a thick red ribbon matching the hat. On the left, a piece of scarlet fabric placed on a piece of furniture brings an intense touch of contrast. The background, painted with vertical strokes in light blue and gray tones, evokes a soft interior or a sunny afternoon outdoors.

The extraordinary virtuosity of the composition lies in the fluidity of the motion captured on the spot and the lightness of the brushstrokes. His unmatched mastery of oil painting is manifested in the subtle drape of the white dress. The artist succeeds in transcending a banal instant into a moment of pure visual poetry.