1875, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Contemplative (The Day Dreamer) -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label: Completed near the time of the first Impressionist exhibition, Contemplative is exemplary of Renoir's characteristically free brushwork and daring subject matter during the mid-1870s. The close framing of the sitter's face and her back-facing position defied the established conventions of portraiture and figured as an audacious innovation in the genre. In several respects, the painting can be seen as a multifaceted exploration of reflection. As the title indicates, the subject of the painting--Nini Lopez, who was one of Renoir's frequent models--is a contemplative young woman represented in a moment of profound reflection. Renoir's compositional choices demonstrate his own reflective processes for devising the most effective means of portraying the introspective activity of his sitter. Finally, the model's gesture and position recall the famous mirrored reflection of the sitter in the background of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's (1780-1867) iconic Neoclassical portrait of Madame Moitessier (1856, National Gallery, London).
1875, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Contemplative (The Day Dreamer) -- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond)
From the museum label: Completed near the time of the first Impressionist exhibition, Contemplative is exemplary of Renoir's characteristically free brushwork and daring subject matter during the mid-1870s. The close framing of the sitter's face and her back-facing position defied the established conventions of portraiture and figured as an audacious innovation in the genre. In several respects, the painting can be seen as a multifaceted exploration of reflection. As the title indicates, the subject of the painting--Nini Lopez, who was one of Renoir's frequent models--is a contemplative young woman represented in a moment of profound reflection. Renoir's compositional choices demonstrate his own reflective processes for devising the most effective means of portraying the introspective activity of his sitter. Finally, the model's gesture and position recall the famous mirrored reflection of the sitter in the background of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's (1780-1867) iconic Neoclassical portrait of Madame Moitessier (1856, National Gallery, London).