In the collection of Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia — check current display status with the museum.
FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
A rosy, diaphanous veil appears to be cast over this nearly monochromatic canvas. Renoir frequently painted solitary women absorbed in domestic activities such as sewing, as seen here, and knitting, and he often set them against a vague background. This type of portraiture of women at work pays homage to the real-life activities illustrated in 17th-century Dutch genre painting. At the same time, for Renoir there is always an ideal at work. As gender roles became increasingly destabilized in France, paintings such Woman Sewing reassert a traditional vision of feminine domesticity.
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Auguste Renoir — Young Girl Reading
Auguste Renoir — Head of a Young Girl
Auguste Renoir — Young Woman Braiding Her Hair
Berthe Morisot — Young Girl with an Apron
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919) — Young Woman Arra
Auguste Renoir — Tilla Durieux (Ottilie Godeffroy, 1880–1971
Berthe Morisot — The Artist's Daughter with a Parakeet
William Glackens — Woman Seated on Red Sofa
George B. Butler (American, 1838–1907) — Capri Lace Maker
Theodore Robinson — The Layette