Landscape at Vétheuil
c. 1890
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 11.5 x 16.5 cm (4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.) framed: 27.9 x 31.8 x 4.1 cm (11 x 12 1/2 x 1 5/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Accession Number
1970.17.72
Art Historical Context
In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a leading figure in the Impressionist movement, captured serene beauty of the French countryside in works like *Landscape at Véuil*. Painted around 1890, this intimate oil on canvas depicts the lush vistas near Vétheuil, a on the Seine River northwest of Paris where Renoir often visited artist friends, including Claude Monet. At just 11.5 x 16.5 cm, its miniature scale evokes a personal sketch made en plein air, inviting viewers into a momentary glimpse of dappled sunlight and verdant fields. Renoir's signature Impressionist techniques...
About the Artist
Auguste Renoir · 1841–1919
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a founding figure of Impressionism whose luminous depictions of Parisian leisure, sensuous female forms, and sun-dappled landscapes made him one of the most beloved painters in Western art history. Born in Limoges to a working-class family, Renoir began as a porcelain painter before pursuing fine arts, and this early craft experience gave him facility with the...