瓦尔热蒙的孩子们的午后

Renoir painted this large picture in 1884, at a moment when he had grown restless with Impressionism. A trip to Italy a couple of years earlier had sent him back toward firm drawing and clear outlines, and you can feel that discipline here. The setting is the seaside chateau of Wargemont, near Dieppe, owned by his friend and patron the banker Paul Berard. The three girls are the Berard daughters. Marthe, the eldest, reads at the right, Marguerite sews in the middle, and small Lucie sits stiffly with her doll on the left. Renoir lines up their faces almost like a lesson, one in profile, one three-quarter, one straight on. The bright patterns of wallpaper, upholstery, and dresses lock together across the surface the way they might in a Japanese print.