Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), *Jeunes Filles Jouant Du Piano* (Young Girls Playing the Piano), 1967 (1883)

Heliogravure, paper, 45 x 37 cm.

Heliogravure printed on a press by master Luigi Granata on special paper manufactured by Cartier Italiana in 1967; 45 x 37 cm within a double, velour passe-partout measuring 55 x 47 cm. Signed on the plate, lower right: “Renoir.”
Renoir, a music lover like most Impressionists, often depicted young girls at the piano. This theme stems from 17th- and 18th-century paintings depicting gatherings of musicians, and perhaps also from the works of his contemporaries: Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), Édouard Manet (1832–1883), or Edgar Degas (1834–1917). Renoir thus takes up a traditional theme, combining the geometric lines of the piano with the undulating movements of the young women. However, he avoids including too many details in order to focus on the two female figures. Seen in profile, a young blonde woman is reading the sheet music she is playing with her right hand. At her side, a young brunette leaning over the piano follows the sheet music with her eyes. The painting may have been created at Renoir’s home; in 1890, he gave his wife a piano. There are at least six other versions of this painting. Renoir undoubtedly used the same models as in “Portrait of Two Little Girls” at the Musée de l’Orangerie.