Seated Female Nude 1910

This small painting of a Seated Female Nude was made by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, but when, exactly, is anyone’s guess! The colours are warm, summery, like peach skin and honey, all soft edges that seem to melt into one another. It is all about the process, as though Renoir was less interested in capturing a likeness, than in exploring the possibilities of paint. Look at the way the white cloth gathers beneath her. It's a flurry of brushstrokes, thick and creamy, like impasto. The paint is so tactile, you can almost feel the weight of it. There’s a real joy in the physicality of the medium that reminds me of Philip Guston, who in his late work, also reveled in the sheer materiality of oil paint. Art is an ongoing conversation, and Renoir speaks volumes about sensuality, and the pleasures of seeing. It’s not about perfection, but about embracing the beauty of imperfection, leaving space for interpretation, and a sense of the provisional.