Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Time to move to rainy Paris!
This painting shows a bustling street scene, where most people use umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain. On the right side, a mother is looking down at her two daughters, dressed in the fashionable styles of 1881 for their afternoon walk. We also see a woman caught in the act of either opening or closing her umbrella, hinting that the rain might be starting or stopping soon.
The main focus of the painting is not in the center but rather to the left, where you see a young bearded man who seems like he's about to offer shelter to a woman carrying a hatbox. Interestingly, she doesn't have a hat, raincoat, or umbrella, which is unusual given the weather. She is a milliner's assistant or modiste, modeled by Renoir's lover, artist, and frequent subject, Suzanne Valadon. She and one of the two girls on the right playing with a hoop and stick look directly at us, while the rest of the people are busy with their activities.
Although the composition looks natural, the angles of the umbrellas are carefully arranged to create geometric shapes, and you can spot rounded elements like the woman's hatbox and the girl's hoop. The predominant colors in the painting are blues and grays, with a pattern of umbrella canopies at the top and the clothing of the people below.
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P.P.S. Do you like rain? Here are some of the most amazing rainy paintings every pluviophile will love! For more stories about Renoir's art, see the articles below.