The Umbrellas

Umbrellas overlap across the top of the picture, forming a canopy above the crowded pavement. Below them, people pass close enough that their figures nearly fill the view. The street beyond is mostly hidden. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French painter associated with Impressionism, worked on the canvas in two stages between about 1881 and 1886. During the interval, his interest shifted towards firmer drawing and more solidly defined bodies. Both approaches remain visible in this one scene. The mother and daughters at the right are painted with soft, lively touches of colour. The young woman at the left and the man behind her have clearer outlines and more precisely modelled forms. Their differences belong to the painting’s development rather than to one uniform method. In a reproduction, compare the edges of clothing and faces on each side. Then follow the repeating curves of the umbrellas that bring the crowd together. The everyday Parisian subject holds two moments in the painter’s work within the same busy encounter.