By the Seashore

Renoir painted this just after a long trip to Italy in 1881 and 1882, where the frescoes of Raphael left him convinced he had reached the end of Impressionism and needed firmer drawing. You can see the change here. The young woman's face is carefully modelled and smoothly finished, while the beach behind her stays loose and flickering, almost a separate way of painting. She sits in a wicker chair, and the seaside, probably the Normandy coast near Dieppe, was very likely added around her in the studio rather than painted on the spot. She has often been called Aline Charigot, whom Renoir later married, though the museum now doubts that the fair, full-figured Aline is the slender woman we see.