Corners of Renoir
One of my 40-year favorites at the A.I.C. is Renoir's "On the Terrace" of 1881" -- that adorable woman in the red hat with the cute kid never fails to send me into ecstasy -- and today was no exception -- except that this time, instead of stepping back to take-it-all-in, I stepped forward to dive into the corners -- which was an equally rewarding trip.
It was this upper-left corner that first got me -- the colorful dipping and jumping through space -- the feel of thick paint or thin -- just where it needs to be one way or the other. The happy sense of eternal youth on an eternal Saturday afternoon in Spring. This is how it looks to be happy.
This section reminded me of the Chinese bamboo painting noted back in November (which is , BTW, equally great, but now off to storage for another 10 years) It's just a nice trip to follow a paint-filled brush as it cuts through, measures, and composes space in one bliss-ful movement. (I'm ignoring, this time, the explosion of color among the flowers on the hat -- it's too exciting for words)
Finally, we've got the up-front left corner --- where R. has given us the joy of colors that are intense but controlled -- and the joy of string (though not quite as exhuberent as the string of Vermeer). And look around the edges of that sleeve !--where it's sharp and where it's loose -- and how it works with the balls of yarn.
Renoir is so mellow ! -- he saunters, casually through the space of his painting -- fit for the lines: ".. the wandering orange and curious peach into my hands themselvs do reach"
Maybe someday I'll write about the young woman and child -- but for today, I'm just sticking to the corners.
It was this upper-left corner that first got me -- the colorful dipping and jumping through space -- the feel of thick paint or thin -- just where it needs to be one way or the other. The happy sense of eternal youth on an eternal Saturday afternoon in Spring. This is how it looks to be happy.
This section reminded me of the Chinese bamboo painting noted back in November (which is , BTW, equally great, but now off to storage for another 10 years) It's just a nice trip to follow a paint-filled brush as it cuts through, measures, and composes space in one bliss-ful movement. (I'm ignoring, this time, the explosion of color among the flowers on the hat -- it's too exciting for words)
Finally, we've got the up-front left corner --- where R. has given us the joy of colors that are intense but controlled -- and the joy of string (though not quite as exhuberent as the string of Vermeer). And look around the edges of that sleeve !--where it's sharp and where it's loose -- and how it works with the balls of yarn.
Renoir is so mellow ! -- he saunters, casually through the space of his painting -- fit for the lines: ".. the wandering orange and curious peach into my hands themselvs do reach"
Maybe someday I'll write about the young woman and child -- but for today, I'm just sticking to the corners.
posted by chris miller at 4:32 AM
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