A Girl with a Watering Can

Renoir painted A Girl with a Watering Can in 1876, during the years when he was producing the work that would define his reputation as the Impressionist painter of children and domestic life. He was 35 years old and had been an Impressionist since the first group exhibition in 1874. He was also beginning to find buyers for his work, thanks to the support of the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and the collector Victor Chocquet. The painting shows a young girl standing in a garden, holding a green watering can. She wears a blue dress with a white collar and a red bow in her hair. Her expression is serious, her gaze directed at the viewer. The garden behind her is painted in loose, impressionist strokes of green and blue, with flowers suggested by spots of color. The path on which she stands is painted in warm yellows and browns. Renoir began painting children in 1876, and A Girl with a Watering Can is one of the earliest and most successful of these works. The painting displays a mature Impressionist style adapted to the specific requirements of figure painting. Renoir's colors reflect the freshness and radiance of the Impressionist palette, while his handling is more controlled and regular than in his landscapes, with even brushstrokes applied in delicate touches, especially in the girl's face. Brilliant prismatic hues envelop the child in an atmosphere of warmth and light. The identity of the girl is unknown. Renoir often painted the children of his friends and patrons, but he also painted anonymous children in public gardens. The setting is probably the garden of Renoir's house in Montmartre, or a public garden nearby. The watering can is a real object, not a prop: it was a common tool in French gardens, and Renoir would have had one in his own. Oil on canvas, 73 by 92 centimeters. Renoir painted the figure with a careful, controlled touch, building the face in smooth layers of warm flesh tone. The blue dress is painted in strokes of cobalt blue and white, with the fabric suggested by the direction of the brushwork. The garden is painted in loose, rapid strokes of green and blue, with the flowers indicated by spots of pure color. The surface has the fresh, luminous quality of a painting made outdoors, in natural light. The vertical format and warm palette make this print work well in a child's room, bedroom, or hallway. The blues, greens, and warm flesh tones pair with white walls, natural wood, and rooms with a warm or domestic character. The 16x20 or 18x24 size gives the figure room to read. The painting has a sweet, luminous quality that suits rooms with a personal or family mood. The painting entered the National Gallery of Art in Washington as part of the Chester Dale Collection. This is a public domain artwork, from the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The image is released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0). We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed.