Young Woman with a Blue Choker

By 1888, when Renoir painted this young woman with a thin blue ribbon at her throat, he had spent several years pulling away from Impressionism. A trip to Italy earlier in the decade, and long looking at Raphael and the wall paintings of Pompeii, had left him dissatisfied with loose, dissolving brushwork. He wanted firmer drawing and clearer edges, and for a while his pictures turned cooler and more linear. This portrait comes as that severe phase was easing and the warmth was returning to his color. The face is smooth and softly lit, the blue of the choker and the dress set against her pale skin. He kept no record of who she was.