Head of a Woman Oil on canvas. 38.5x36 cm France. Circa 1876
Source of Entry: State Museum of New Western Art, Moscow. 1935
This study was painted at the height of the Impressionist
movement, around 1876, by Renoir, one of the leading members of
the group. Portraits form perhaps the most important part of
Renoir's work, and women are by far the most important of his
subjects, embodying vivid, natural charm. This sitter has a
likeness to a number of figures who appear in the artist's other
works of this period, both in her general appearance and in
hairstyle. It is possible that this is Anne, one of Renoir's
models. In the study, as in the artist's finished pictures, the
image is tinged with lyricism and full of the charm of
femininity. The freedom and fluidity of the separate
brushstrokes, the soft nuances of colour and the attention paid
to effects of light and air are characteristic of Renoir's style
during these years.