Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Renoir spent part of the summer of 1881 at the country home of his patron Paul Berard in the small Normandy village of Wargemont. During his stay, Renoir painted two similar still lifes in contrasting color harmonies, showing the family’s faïence jardinière piled high with peaches. Berard purchased the present work for himself; the other version was featured in the seventh Impressionist exhibition the following year (1882). The reviewers of the exhibition were dazzled by this "very appealing" still life of "a certain fruit bowl of 'Peaches', whose velvety execution verges on a trompe l'oeil [an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions]." Indeed, both still lifes look very tasty!
If you would like to learn more about Renoir and the Impressionists, please check our online courses: the short Basic one and the long MEGA one. : )
P.S. Still lifes like this one always make me think about some yummy afternoon snack ... and a tea! Tea is the right drink for autumn afternoon; here's time for tea in paintings. Enjoy!