Poster Pierre Auguste Renoir - Young Girls at the Piano

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Girls at the Piano, 1892 - Oil on canvas. H. 116; W. 81 cm

A music lover like most impressionists, Renoir often represented young girls at the piano. This subject derives from the assemblies of musicians painted in the 17th and 18th centuries, perhaps also from the...

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Girls at the Piano, 1892 - Oil on canvas. H. 116; W. 81 cm

A music lover like most impressionists, Renoir often represented young girls at the piano. This subject derives from the assemblies of musicians painted in the 17th and 18th centuries, perhaps also from the works of his contemporaries Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Edouard Manet (1832-1883) or Edgard Degas (1834-1917). Renoir thus takes up a traditional theme, which combines the geometrical lines of the upright piano with the undulating movements of the young girls. But he avoids placing too many details in it in order to concentrate on the two female figures.

Seen from the side, a young blond girl deciphers a score she plays with her right hand. Beside her, a young brunette bent over the piano follows the score with her eyes. The painting may have been painted at the home of Renoir, who had given his wife a piano as a wedding present in 1890. There are at least six other versions of this painting. Did Renoir want to paint a series as Claude Monet (1840-1926) did with his cathedrals?