Her First Evening Out - by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

The Tightness of Renoir's vision is a constant joy. How wonderfuLly he has caught the eager vitality, the wide-eyed freshness of this sweet and unspoiled child! She is dressed in her Sunday finery, with a bouquet of flowers clasped in her hands, spellbound by her introduction to the gay lifedf Paris. How completely right is Renoir's concentration on heir, painting the rest of the scene in flashing brush strokes that convey the dazzle of activity as it impresses the girl! Except for her, the canvas is a hubbub of movement and implied sound. In the boldest and simplest manner, he weaves the picture into a unity, through such devices as the daring repeat of the front contours of the girl's jacket in the curve of the partition beyond her, and in the variation of this tine in her back. Daring also is the abrupt separation of near and far in the picture; but they are related by the partition which, though near, is painted in the colors and technique of the background. The color is held down in general value and intensity, but is altogether Renoiresque in its rich invention. Before such a picture, one is amazed at the way Renoir can catch and give reality to essences of the most elusive kind.