Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.
By the Seashore
Auguste Renoir · 1883
- Artist
- Auguste Renoir French, Limoges 1841–1919 Cagnes-sur-Mer
- Date
- 1883
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 36 1/4 x 28 1/2 in. (92.1 x 72.4 cm)
- Where to see it
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 · CC0 Public Domain · The Met · see it at the museum ↗
Slow Look
- The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
- The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
- The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
- One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
- The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?
About Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading French Impressionist artist. In his depiction of feminine beauty, Renoir has been described as "the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."
What do you see?
Stand in front of it for a moment. Then tell us what you noticed or felt - there are no wrong answers.
Be the first to share a thought.
More by Auguste Renoir
If you like this, stand in front of these
The Child's BathMary Cassatt, 1893
Mrs. Daniel Hubbard (Mary Greene)John Singleton Copley, c. 1764
On a BalconyMary Cassatt, 1878–79
Mrs. George Swinton (Elizabeth Ebsworth)John Singer Sargent, 1897
Mrs. Charles Gifford Dyer (Mary Anthony)John Singer Sargent, 1880
Study of a Young WomanJohannes Vermeer, ca. 1665–67
Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a CasementFra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1440
Elizabeth Farren (born about 1759, died 1829), Later Countess of DerbySir Thomas Lawrence, 1790