Laundresses at Cagnes 1912

Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted these Laundresses at Cagnes at some point in his life, with oil on canvas. It's all about capturing the fleeting moment, and Renoir does this through a broken brushstroke technique, with touches of pink, gold, and blue giving the painting a warm and joyful feel. The surface is alive with texture; it looks like the paint has been dabbed and stroked onto the canvas in layers. You can almost feel the sunlight shimmering on the water and the rough texture of the laundresses’ clothing. There's a figure on the left in a red dress, reclining; Renoir’s application of the paint here is looser, less defined, drawing your eye to the more gestural areas of the painting. This gives the whole scene an immediacy, like Renoir captured what was right in front of him. This reminds me of Fragonard, with its rosy hues and celebration of everyday life. It's also possible to see how Van Gogh, who admired Renoir, was influenced by his technique. However, Renoir's interest was always in the way light and color play together, not necessarily in any fixed or definitive meanings.