L'œuvre en bref

Shown at the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874, The Theatre Box is one of the most emblematic works of Auguste Renoir's career. For this painting, the artist had his brother Edmond pose alongside a young Montmartre model nicknamed Nini "Gueule-de-Raie." The subject of the theatre box was particularly prized by painters of Parisian modernity, fascinated by the social rituals of the bourgeoisie under the Third Republic; Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt would also explore its codes. Renoir captures here all the ambiguity of this place where one comes as much to see as to be seen: the woman exposes herself to the viewer's gaze, while her companion turns his opera glasses toward the upper balconies.

The composition tightens the two figures into a close framing that plunges the viewer into the intimacy of the box. The striking contrast between the black and white stripes of the young woman's dress powerfully structures the canvas and constitutes one of the most memorable visual effects of the work. Onto this bold checkerboard, Renoir places a few pink touches, a bouquet of flowers at the bodice, the gleam of the lips, the petals in her red hair, that warm the whole and soften the graphic rigour of the costume. The young woman's face, rendered with extreme delicacy, contrasts with the looser and more sketched handling of the background and the male figure. The pearls of the necklace, the pale gloves, and the gilded clutch are rendered with quick, fluid brushstrokes, testifying to the virtuosity with which Renoir captures the texture of fabrics and the sparkle of jewels under the artificial light of the theatre.

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