Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Renoir—
The Skiff
(1875)
It's a nice scene of boats on sun-dappled water. Now move in close. The “scene” breaks up
into almost random patches of bright colors. The “blue” water is actually separate brush-
strokes of blue, green, pink, purple, gray, and white. The rower's hat is a blob of green,
white, and blue. Up close, it looks like a mess, but when you back up to a proper distance,
voilà!
It shimmers. This kind of rough, coarse brushwork (where you can actually see the
brushstrokes) is one of the telltale signs of Impressionism. Renoir was not trying to paint
the water itself, but the reflection of sky, shore, and boats off its surface.
• In Room 44, you'll find...
Seurat—
Bathers at Asnières
(1884)
Viewed from about 15 feet away, this is a bright, sunny scene of people lounging on a ri-
verbank. Up close it's a mess of dots, showing the Impressionist color technique taken to
its logical extreme. The “green” grass is a shag rug of green, yellow, red, brown, purple,
and white brushstrokes. The boy's “red” cap is a collage of red, yellow, and blue.
