Renoir: Sunshine and Rain

Clever online lecture from the National Gallery looking at two paintings in their collection by Renoir.

Belle Smith looked at “The Skiff” from 1875 and “Umbrellas” from 1881-6 on first site to compare how Renoir treated sunshine and rain. A nice idea for early summer. However she then expanded this out to compare his early Impressionist and later style as he turned more towards classicism.

She talked about the new innovations in metal paint tubes, flat topped brushes and new pigments which allowed the Impressionists to work in their characteristic quick style. She also talked about how they looked to new subjects to record the contemporary world. 

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