Roses in a Vase by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Roses in a Crystal Vase
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Oil on canvas
1879
This painting is evidence of how good Renoir was with a still-life genre. The lush petals and lively leaves emerge from a crystal vase, each element meticulously shaped yet bursting with energy. This vibrancy is enhanced by the background and tabletop, where luminous jewel tones are applied with a spontaneity that borders on abstraction. For Renoir, painting botanicals was a return to his roots. At age 13, he began his career by painting flowers on porcelain at the Sèvres workshop. Following the workshop’s shift to mechanization in 1858, Renoir departed to pursue formal art studies.