Arcadópolis
Two Young Girls at the Piano
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1892
What you see
Two girls share a piano in a room. The blonde, in a white dress with a blue sash, sits and plays while reading the sheet music. The other, dark-haired and in pink, leans in behind her, resting on the back of the chair, and points to the notes. Their two heads, close together, form the heart of the picture.
The colors are soft and warm, rose, white and gold, against a blue-green curtain. Shapes melt into one another without hard lines, and the blond hair falls in long strands. Look for the vase of flowers on top of the piano at upper right, and the gilded candleholders sprouting from the front of the instrument.
About Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir began by painting flowers on porcelain plates and became one of the great Impressionists. He loved to paint happiness: dances, outdoor meals, children and friends in light filtering through the trees. He kept painting into old age, even when he had to have the brush tied to his hand.
More by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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