RENOIR - 7

Two Sisters (On the Terrace) - 1880-81

In this painting, Renoir depicts the radiance of two lovely females, one in her late teenage years and the other a child, on a warm and beautiful day.  The older girl gazes beyond her younger companion, who seems to have just dashed into the picture.  The sewing basket in the left foreground suggests a palette of bright colors that the artist mixed, diluted and altered to create the painting.  Although the girls were not actually sisters, Renoir's dealer showed the work with this title at an Impressionist exhibition in 1882.

The terrace railing is directly behind them.  The horizontal line of the railing moves the figures further into the foreground, placing emphasis on them as the focal point.  Over the terrace railing we see shrubbery and foliage with the Seine River behind it.   The little girl is holding onto the edge of a basket filled with different colors of woolen balls, which is on a small table.  There is a brilliance of colors in this painting. 

Notice some boats along the river painted between the gaps of the branches. 

There are three points of focus in "Two Sisters."  The first is the sharp red color of the older lady's hat.  The second focus is the hat of the younger girl depicted with colorful flowers.   The third point is the basket of woolen balls of yarn. The painting presents the beauty of spring and youth.  The two sisters were in the springtime of their lives.  The bright colors enable us to appreciate a harmonious environment. 

Did you wonder why Renoir painted the basket of woolen yarn in this picture?  It does seem out of place.  It was suggested that Renoir placed the yarn there in response to a critic who compared his painting to knitting and described one of his artworks as "a weak sketch seemingly executed in wool of different colors."  While this may be true, there may be other reasons why Renoir placed the yarn in this painting.  No one really knows what Renoir was thinking at that time. 

This painting is located in the Art Institute of Chicago.  Two Sisters is a timeless work honoring the beauty of human connection and the simple pleasures of life.  It is a beloved work of art that captivates audiences worldwide.