Shop art print and framed art La Parisienne by Auguste Renoir

La Parisienne or La Dame en bleu is an oil on canvas by Auguste Renoir painted in 1874 and exhibited at the National Museum in Cardiff. It was one of seven paintings by Renoir shown at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. It is one of the museum's masterpieces. La Parisienne is a signed and dated portrait of a young woman in a ruffled blue dress, her face turned towards the viewer as she puts on her gloves. Renoir had originally painted a door in the top left-hand corner and a curtain in the left-hand corner, but he removed them before presenting the painting at the exhibition. This gives the impression that the model is floating in a neutral space, stripped of all detail. The indescribable background of blue, mauve and yellow-grey adds significantly to the final appearance of the work. The paint on the background is much finer and more lightly brushed than the more detailed and layered central figure. The hair work against the hat, the earrings and above the earrings and the upper eyelashes appear to have been added after the painting had received its coat of varnish. When this painting was first exhibited in 1874, under the title La Parisienne, it received a mixed critical reception, as did most of the paintings in the exhibition"; and mentioned in passing. The critic Ernest Chesneau even described it as "a failure". Jean Prouvaire of Le Rappel expressed mixed feelings: "The toe of his boot is almost invisible and sticks out like a little black mouse. Her hat is [...]

 

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

 

Find the full description of La Parisienne by Auguste Renoir on Wikipedia.