Woman’s Head with Red Hat c. 1890s

Pierre-Auguste Renoir made this painting, Woman’s Head with Red Hat, with oil paints on canvas, a common choice for artists during his time. The way Renoir applied the paint is really interesting. You can see each brushstroke, how he loaded the brush and moved it across the canvas. It's almost like he's showing off the act of painting itself. The texture is thick in some spots, and he uses these juicy strokes of color to build up the form of the woman and her hat. Back then, oil paints were starting to be mass-produced. This meant artists could get their hands on a wider range of colors, and experiment more freely. With this ease of access to materials, artists like Renoir could focus less on grinding pigments and more on capturing light and feeling. It really democratized art-making in a way. So, next time you look at a painting, remember it's not just about what's on the canvas, but also the hands that made it, and the world that enabled it.