Caryatids (Cariatides); also called Deux baigneuses (panneau décoratif)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

This panel and its pendant show two sets of caryatids, sculpted figures that could serve as structural supports in classical Greek architecture. Posed in symmetrical positions and fitted perfectly into their architectural niches, the figures assume a kind of eternal sculptural presence. Yet Renoir gives their bodies a rosy color that returns them to the realm of living and breathing, and of painting. This blurring of artistic boundaries embodies the theoretical ideas that he had expressed in his early writings.

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