Grape Pickers at Lunch

Renoir painted this around 1888 in Essoyes, the wine-growing village in Champagne that his companion Aline Charigot came from and where the family kept returning. The pickers have stopped for a meal in the middle of the harvest, the women resting, a bottle and some bread in the shade. By these years Renoir had grown uneasy with pure Impressionism. After a trip to Italy and a long look at Raphael he wanted firmer edges and steadier drawing, and you can feel him tightening the figures while keeping the flicker of light across the grass. He gave these field workers the same unhurried ease he usually saved for Parisians at a cafe. Essoyes stayed in his life for good; he bought a house there, and he is buried in the village.