Magnet Renoir - Two Young Girls at the Piano

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Young Girls at the Piano; C. 1892 - Oil on canvas - H. 116; L. 81 cm - Musée de l'Orangerie

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

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Young Girls at the Piano; C. 1892 - Oil on canvas - H. 116; L. 81 cm - Musée de l'Orangerie

A music lover like most impressionists, Renoir often portrayed young girls at the piano. This subject derives from assemblies of musicians painted in the 17th and 18th centuries, perhaps also from the works of his contemporaries Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Édouard Manet (1832-1883) or Edgar Degas (1834-1917). Renoir thus takes up a traditional theme, combining the geometric 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 blonde 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.