Renoir Girl with a Watering Can

French impressionism had many great contributors. Among the foremost of these we find Pierre-Auguste Renoir. With his delicate brush strokes, vibrant use of light and color and pendant for painting the outdoor world around him, Renoir was a true master. He was also a believer that paintings should be pretty, joyful and pleasant things to observe. His own work followed this paradigm consistently.

 

Among his treasure trove of great painting, we find works like Girl with a Watering Can, which he painted in 1876. The painting depicts a very nicely dressed girl, walking around Monet’s garden in Argenteuil. She is holding a watering can in her one hand and two cut flowers in the other. In her hair is a red bow.

 

In Girl with a Watering Can, Renoir worked completely in accordance with the rules of impressionism. We thus see a focus on color over line, his fine brush strokes, an outdoor setting, and some movement on behalf of the girl. The focus on color over line does however not refrain Renoir from producing a very powerful depiction. The girls fine clothes is given in great detail, thus emphasizing their importance in the painting. It is not just a girl but a girl in her best clothes we see in this garden. The rose bush in the foreground is similarly beautifully rendered, with even the nuances of the flowers clear.

 

The overall impression is one of sweet innocence and spring beauty, thus creating a match between the girl and her surroundings on this level.