Femme lisant 1906

'Femme lisant' is a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and you can see how he builds up the figure with these short, feathery brushstrokes, like he’s knitting with paint. Look at the way he handles the red of the chair, how it bleeds into the woman’s skin and the background. There’s a looseness, a fluidity, that suggests a process of constant adjustment, of seeing and responding. And notice the blue in her dress, how it's not just blue but a mix of blues and whites, creating this shimmering, almost vibrating effect. It’s like Renoir is trying to capture not just the color, but the light itself. Renoir’s contemporary, Berthe Morisot, another master of capturing the fleeting moment, often used a similar approach, emphasizing light and color over hard edges. Like her, Renoir shows us that painting is not just about representation, but about a way of seeing and experiencing the world.