Small Study for a Nude

Auguste Renoir

National Gallery of Art

A nude woman with long blond hair stands in front of a landscape in this vertical painting. Brushstrokes are visible and textured throughout so details are loosely painted and indistinct. The woman’s body is painted in shades of pale and shell pink, and a few strokes suggest an arm wrapped across her middle and two legs. Next to her, in the lower left corner of the canvas, is an area painted thickly with white and blue brushstrokes. Behind the woman, there appears to be a light blue body of water. Soft horizontal green and red strokes just above it may represent land, merging with a light blue horizon. On the right of the canvas, bright yellow dashes suggest flowers. The artist signed the lower right corner with a cursive “R.”