Shop art print and framed art Femme à la lettre by Auguste Renoir

Femme à la lettre is a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir dating from 1890-1895 and housed in the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. A figure like this, posed in a conventional, reflective attitude, is unusual in Renoir's painting. This oil on canvas, measuring 65 × 54 cm, conforms to the traditional type of imaginary figure, which appears frequently in eighteenth-century painting and also, closer to Renoir, in the work of Corot. The same model appears in various compositions, generally dated between 1890 and 1895. This work appears in an album of reproductions of Renoir's works published by Vollard in 1918 (during the artist's lifetime), in which it is dated 1895. This type of figure (in a very rigid position) is quite unusual in Renoir's work. In fact, Renoir preferred to paint his models in more natural poses. The woman is seen sitting upright, her head resting on her right hand, and she appears to be pondering the contents of a letter in her left hand. The letter is merely a pretext for Renoir to depict a young woman in the style of the models painted by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), some of whom are in the Louvre. Despite the woman's aesthetic attitude and her eyes that avert the viewer's gaze, the painting exudes joy and [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the impressionism style.

 

« Femme à la lettre » is kept at Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of Femme à la lettre by Auguste Renoir on Wikipedia.