Picnic (Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Here we see a group of women, children, and dogs relaxing at a picnic while nestled in a copse of trees by a large boulder. The hat in the foreground likely belongs to the woman in the blue blouse at right; she seems to look out at the viewer, inviting us into the bucolic, sunlight-dappled scene scene. Renoir's feathery brushwork activates the entire canvas, integrating the figures with the landscape. Indeed, the two women in the background at left blend almost completely into the stand of trees.

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