Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919)
Route à Wargemont (Road at Wargemont)
1879
Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 100 cm
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo
Liquid colors in glowing, gem-like tones glide into each other, blurring contours, in one of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s most remarkable landscapes. Renoir painted it in late summer 1879, while a guest at the estate of banker and diplomat Paul Bérard in Wargemont in northern France. Renoir was enchanted by the countryside around Wargemont, setting up his easel outside to record his impressions of the forests, fields, and coastline. The dreamlike view of rolling hills, winding road, lines of trees, and clumps of bushes is experimental and forward-looking in technique. Renoir applied his thin, translucent layers of paint wet into wet—that is, he applied fresh paint to already-wet areas. This method gave the image its fluid, unfocused, and luminous appearance. His rapid, spontaneous execution invigorates a scene of nature in flux as the wind picks up and a storm rolls into the valley. (TMA)
See also:
• Château de Wargemont (Derchigny) | Normandie (France)