Small Nude in Blue 1879

Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted this small, sensual nude with oil on canvas; we’re not sure exactly when, but it was likely at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. At this time, the French academy dictated that nudes should be shown as allegorical or mythological figures. But here, Renoir’s young woman looks like a contemporary Parisian. The Impressionists sought to overturn academic conventions, to paint modern life as they saw it, but they still depended on the market for their work. In this context, Renoir trod a careful line between the traditional and the modern. He included the fashionable short hair of the time, but the soft, indistinct forms and the subject's inward focus give the painting an air of timelessness. Art historians like myself can use a wide range of resources – from exhibition reviews to sales records to personal letters – to explore the cultural and economic dynamics that shaped art production during this fascinating time.