The Path through the Forest 1871

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'The Path through the Forest' is rendered in oil paint, a medium associated with the industrial revolution because of its reliance on mass production, especially of pigments. Renoir's handling of paint here is free, the marks rapidly applied to the canvas. Notice the textured surface, built up from layers of brushstrokes. This approach to the material of paint allowed Renoir to capture the fleeting effects of light filtering through the trees. Although he was a master of rendering the human figure, in landscapes like this, he applied the same sensibilities he would have in portraiture, the same freedom and bravura. The canvas itself, stretched over a wooden frame, provided a stable surface for painting. But it was only one element in a much wider system of suppliers and vendors that would eventually bring the finished work to market. By emphasizing the materiality and making of 'The Path through the Forest,' we recognize the labor involved in its creation, and its place within a complex network of production and consumption that blurred the lines between high art and craft.