In this artwork, how is the Background discussed?
The forest was a popular landscape subject for nineteenth-century French artists, particularly the forest of Fontainebleau. Before Renoir, Claude Monet (1840–1926) painted Bazille and Camille (Study for "Déjeuner sur l'Herbe") (1865), showing a couple together in the forest.   In 1869, Renoir and Monet spent time painting together at La Grenouillère. By 1870, Renoir was living in Louveciennes with his mother.   Throughout this decade, the eighteenth-century rococo art movement was back in style and Renoir embraced it. France declared war against Germany on 19 July 1870, starting the Franco-Prussian War. Renoir was conscripted and served four months in the cavalry but never saw combat.
Franco-Prussian War forest of Fontainebleau rococo La Grenouillère Claude Monet