Renior - the apple seeder


Pierre Auguste Renoir was a late nineteen- century French impressionist painter whose works were often ridiculed throughout his life, because of his sensuous celebration of women and nature. He was considered to be one of the most famous artists of his generation, due to his representation sensuality and pleasure in his paintings. When his paintings were first exhibited, they were considered to be shocking and culturally taboo, however after time society became more accepting of Renoir's style and his work overall. "The Apple Seller" painted in 1890, which is now showcased at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The painting depicts a commercial transaction between a peasant woman and an upper class woman and her children. Throughout this paper I will describe the formal properties of this painting such as composition, line and color, texture, space and volume and use of light. The painting as a triangular composition, containing all four figures, they are in turn drawn together within a harmonious ensemble. The painting itself depicts an older peasant woman selling fruit to what seems to be a middle class woman and her children. The painting is set deep in the forest, where the mother and her children are enjoying a pleasant spring afternoon. The blurred background of the piece brings the figures to the front of the painting creating a more personal situation for each viewer. Incidentally, this creates the effect of a personal link between the viewer and the figures in the painting. The peasant woman is depicted in plain clothing by using very dull colors; on the other hand the wealthier woman is painted in more vibrant colors to describe her social status. Overall, the composition seems to be a commentary of the social circumstances of the time.

The color and line are both a very bold issues within the context of this painting. The painting as a whole is like a gradation. The background tone is very light, the middle ground has a neutral value, and the foreground is very dark. There is no real line in the painting; it is only described by a darker tone in front of the lighter one, giving a surreal feeling because of the combination of the deep color and the blurred paint. Renoir's color range on the painting is strictly earth toned, with minimal use of black and white. The color being very bold contradicts the serenity of the composition itself.

Renoir's brushwork is very painterly, because he uses a sweeping motion to create a blurred or fuzzed effect. This method works very well with the landscape portion of ...