Flowers (Fleurs)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

A bouquet of pink, red, and white flowers (mostly anemones and roses) bursts from a tan jar with shiny blue-green glaze. Renoir painted the blossoms in a gradient of life stages, from budding to fading, with energetic, impasto brushstrokes. He wrote to a friend, "When I paint flowers, I place colors and experiment with values boldly." He may have painted this bouquet for the art market, at a time when the impressionists' still lives sold more easily than their figures and landscapes.

Source ↗