RENOIR - 6

A Girl With a Watering Can - 1876

This painting, set in a garden, presents a little girl holding a watering can in her right hand and two daisies in her left hand.  She has bright blue eyes and rosy lips, is about four years old, wearing a knee-length royal blue dress with wide, intricate, lacy white trim, and blue ankle boots and white socks.  Her long, curly blonde hair is topped with a bright red ribbon.  In the left foreground are flowering bushes, and Renoir has filled in the middle ground with an indistinct patch of grass, as more flowering bushes rise in the background at the top of the painting.  The colors of the footpath contrast nicely with the green grass surrounding it.  She appears to be happy while watering the flowers.  Note that there are no shadows anywhere in the painting.  

At the time of this painting, Renoir struggled for money.  To earn money, he decided to paint scenes of women and children, hoping they would sell and possibly attract commissions for portraits.  This type of scene was in high demand in France at the time.  His strategy paid off.  By 1879, he had become a successful painter with money that he used to travel around Europe and North Africa. 

A Girl With a Watering Can is located in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Lucie Berard (Child in White) - 1883

Renoir's patron, Paul-Antoine Berard, commissioned him to paint portraits of his four children.  Here, Renoir portrays the youngest, Lucie, as the picture of innocence at three years old.  Her small hands are positioned by her sides.  Notice the two rows of vertical buttons and the wide lacey yoke of her dress.  The picture lacks accessories, like toys and books, found in other of Renoir's portraits of children.  Her white dress and subtle smile reflect a fleeting moment of youth.

The painting of Lucie is located in the Art Institute of Chicago.