Progression of Human Form - On the Terrace

12:00 AM

Progression of Human Form
Curated by Shahzad Aslam

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, On the Terrace, 1881
Renoir, known for glorifying female sensuality and femininity represents an impressionist style painter. For impressionists like Renoir, the beauty of the female form was accentuated through vibrant colors and less emphasis on line and contour unlike the romantics and others that came before them. The vibrancy in On the Terrace is achieved through the separate application of each color of paint and non-mixing or blending of the paints on the canvas. Furthermore, the work is characteristic of the Impressionist period, as it set outdoors with an ordinary mother and daughter as the subject. Additionally, the background and foreground containing the figures are blended seamlessly together creating a snapshot, photographic effect. The forms of the females at this time are still traditional and painted accurately. The differentiating factor in Impressionism comes from the application of the paint through thin, open brush strokes and subject matter rather than a reinvention of the human form.

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