Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919)
Les Environs de Pont-Aven (Outskirts of Pont-Aven)
c.1888–1890
Oil on canvas, 54.5 x 65 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London
In the late 1880s, Pierre-Auguste Renoir made several visits to Pont-Aven, an artists’ colony in Brittany where Paul Gauguin also worked. In this painting, Renoir contrasts loosely brushed shadows and grass rippling in a breeze with crisply defined trees. This work shows him gradually moving away from the sketch-like quality of the Impressionist technique. His forms are more boldly delineated with a forceful use of colour, as seen in the play of the sun on the tree trunks. (Courtauld)