Nude with Castanets 1918

'Nude with Castanets' by Renoir, is oil on canvas, and made with soft feathery strokes. It feels like Renoir is feeling his way into being, feeling his way through the painting of the woman, tentatively, through trial and error. I imagine Renoir thinking, ‘Okay, what if I make her skin pinker? Or lean her more to the left?’ This kind of painting must involve a lot of looking, stepping back, squinting, and going back in. You can see he’s trying to capture a certain kind of light. The paint is brushed on very thin, and this is an intimate piece—we can sense the heat rising from the surface of the canvas. Her soft flesh and rounded curves are contrasted with the angular architectural forms behind her, making the figure feel very present. Renoir, like many painters, was in conversation with other artists across time, borrowing from traditions and experimenting. We can see it in the way he handled the body, the way the space is conceived and the way he is playing with the light. It reminds us that painting is an embodied practice, constantly evolving and open to interpretation.