Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Path in the Forest Ceramic Tile

Path in the Forest (Sentier dans le bois), 1874-1877 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Limoges, 1841 - Cagnes-sur-Mer, 1919) was a French Impressionist painter. Renoir revisited a composition he had first explored in Shaded Path in 1872, with a path overhung by trees forming a central axis that leads into the depth of the picture. Darker tones give way to the glowing palette of his mature Impressionist style, and dabs of pure white evoke bright flecks of sunlight in the underbrush. Although foliage covers the whole surface, the hazy light adds a sense of transparency. A solitary figure stands far along the path, almost absorbed by the landscape. The dealer Paul Durand-Ruel acquired the painting in August 1891.