Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Young Ladies at the Piano (1892)

color heliogravure, heavyweight vellum paper;
23 x 31 cm (plate impression), 50 x 40 (mat);
signed on the plate beneath the composition “Renoir,” publisher’s dry stamp lower left: the letter K surrounded by the words “EDITION LIMITED CERTIFIED ARTS USA EUROPE SINCE 1998”;numbered in pencil 21/350. Original certificate.

Renoir, a music lover like most Impressionists, often depicted young girls at the piano. This theme stems from depictions of musical gatherings painted in the 17th and 18th centuries, and 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 piano with the undulating movements of the young women. However, he avoids including too many details in order to focus on the two female figures. Seen in profile, a young blonde woman is deciphering the sheet music she is playing with her right hand. At her side, a young brunette leaning over the piano follows the score with her eyes. The painting may have been created at Renoir’s home, where he gave his wife a piano in 1890. There are at least six other versions of this painting. Renoir undoubtedly used the same models as in “Portrait of Two Little Girls” at the Musée de l’Orangerie.