Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Skiff (La Yole)
1875Paintings sorted by   Historical period  |   Painter  |  Subject matter  |  Pigments used
Overview
Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 71Â cm x 92 cm
Art period:Â Impressionism
National Gallery London
NG 6478
The description of this painting by Tricia Cussack in her essay on bourgeois leisure on the Seine skilfully expresses the atmosphere of the scene (1).
Renoir’s The Skiff (c.1879) depicts a woman rowing with a female companion, but the figures are un-individualised and the rower, dressed fashionably in a tilted hat, is not strenuously engaged with the task of rowing. The skiff floats on a glittering pool shared only with a few other leisure craft. A large detached villa stands on the bank, a white wall and gate leading to the riverbank as if this section of the river and surrounding vegetation formed part of its parkland estate. All this emphasises the character of the Seine as an unthreatening site of domesticated middle-class leisure, and women’s place as amateur boaters, their impracticable dress in Veblen’s terms demonstrating their detachment from useful activity. The scene conveys a sense of security and tranquillity, while the link with Paris is recalled by the unobtrusive trains passing in the background.
(1) Tricia Cusack, Bourgeois Leisure on the Seine: Impressionism, Forgetting
and National Identity in the French Third Republic, National Identities, 9:2, 2007, 163-182, DOI: 10.1080/14608940701333837
Pigments
Pigment Analysis
Renoir used a restricted palette for this painting merely consisting of seven pigments; not counting lead white. He applied the paints mostly unmixed and directly from the tube, which explains the intensity and brilliance of the colours (1).
The river is painted in pure cobalt blue mixed with lead white in the highlights.
Renoir used chrome yellow (lead chromate) and lemon yellow (here strontium chromate and not the more common barium chromate) for the body of the boat and chrome orange (basic lead chromate) for its outline.
The landscape to the right contains similar pigments mixed with viridian and cobalt blue.
The pink dress of the woman on the right is painted in vermilion mixed with lead white.
And finally, Renoir used viridian mixed with chrome yellow and lead white for the green rushes in the foreground.
References
(1) Roy, A. The Palettes of three Impressionist Paintings, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, Vol 9, 1985, 12-20. Available as pdf.
(2) David Bomford, John Leighton, Jo Kirby, Ashok Roy, Impressionism: Art in the Making, National Gallery London Publications), 1991, 172-175.
Pigments Used in This Painting
Resources
Videos
Video: 'Renoir's Techniques and Color' by Musings on Art by Cathy Locke
Video: 'Pierre Auguste Renoir: A collection of 1549 paintings (HD) by LearnFromMasters
Publications and Websites
Publications
(1) David Bomford, John Leighton, Jo Kirby, Ashok Roy, Impressionism: Art in the Making, National Gallery London Publications), 1991, 172-175.
(2) Tricia Cusack, Bourgeois Leisure on the Seine: Impressionism, Forgetting
and National Identity in the French Third Republic, National Identities, 9:2, 2007, 163-182, DOI: 10.1080/14608940701333837