PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR

Pierre Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919), Seamstress at Window, circa 1908-1910. Oil on canvas. New Orleans Museum of Art, Gift of Charles C. Henderson in memory of Margaret Henderson.

Renoir began to break from the Impressionists around 1881 when he came in contact with classical art. He felt that their predominant interest in color and light over line and composition threatened a loss of the basic human qualities inherent in the classical tradition of art. His own painting came to rely more upon line and descriptive detail with a corresponding emphasis on the human form. Renoir’s oeuvre, more than that of any of the Impressionists, included a great deal of monumental figures, especially women. Seamstress at Window is a late work and falls into the category of a genre painting. The model is undoubtedly Gabrielle Renard, the young woman who became Renoir’s housekeeper in 1895. The reds and oranges of the palette give the image a warmth and glow. Renoir’s purpose here seems to be the creation of a sense of domestic tranquility, most likely reflecting the aging artist’s home life.