Renoir
Pierre Auguste Renoir was a late nineteen- century French impressionist painter whose works were often ridiculed throughout his life, because of his sensuous celebration of women and nature. He was considered to be one of the most famous artists of his generation, due to his representation sensuality and pleasure in his paintings. When his paintings were first exhibited, they were considered to be shocking and culturally taboo, however after time society became more accepting of Renoir's style and his work overall. "The Apple Seller" painted in 1890, which is now showcased at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The painting depicts a commercial transaction between a peasant woman and an upper class woman and her children. Throughout this paper I will describe the formal properties of this painting such as composition, line and color, texture, space and volume and use of light. The painting as a triangular composition, containing all four figures, they are in turn drawn together within a harmonious ensemble. The painting itself depicts an older peasant woman selling fruit to what seems to be a middle class woman and her children. The painting is set deep in the forest, where the mother and her children are enjoying a pleasa
The color and line are both a very bold issues within the context of this painting. The painting as a whole is like a gradation. The background tone is very light, the middle ground has a neutral value, and the foreground is very dark. There is no real line in the painting; it is only described by a darker tone in front of the lighter one, giving a surreal feeling because of the combination of the deep color and the blurred paint. Renoir's color range on the painting is strictly earth toned, with minimal use of black and white. The color being very bold contradicts the serenity of the composition itself. Renoir's brushwork is very painterly, because he uses a sweeping motion to create a blurred or fuzzed effect. This method works very well with the landscape portion of the painting, however the figures were handled in the same way, which is a major downfall to the composition because it lacks realism of the figure. The representation of the figure with this technique, is very minimal making the subject unclear to the viewer. The use of light radiates the bliss of the mother and her children. The peasant being in shadow represents her melancholy mood. The contrast of the mother and children the peasant is a very strong aspect of the composition. The darkness of the peasant
Some common words found in the essay are:
Museum Art, Auguste Renoir, woman children, Apple Seller, mother children, peasant woman, space volume, mother children peasant, painting depicts, class woman children, meaning composition, color line, front painting, darkness peasant, children peasant,
Approximate Word count = 875
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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