L'œuvre en bref

Painted in 1870, The Walk is one of the most charming works of Auguste Renoir's youth, made just before the Franco-Prussian War momentarily interrupted his career. The painting belongs to the tradition of the French eighteenth-century fête galante, inherited from Antoine Watteau and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, whose grace and lightness Renoir greatly admired. This kinship with rococo painting, transposed into a contemporary natural setting, would become a signature of the artist throughout his career. The work already anticipates the explorations of open-air light that would bring him fame in the following decade with the advent of Impressionism.

The scene depicts a young couple walking through a sunlit grove. The man, in a dark frock coat, light trousers, and straw hat, gallantly extends his hand to his companion to help her over a tricky spot. The young woman, dressed in an elegant white gown lifted with a blue bow and wearing a small flowered bonnet, steps forward delicately, her petticoats brushing against the foliage. Renoir treats the surrounding vegetation with a multitude of short, vibrant brushstrokes, alternating greens, ochres, and blues, that make the grove literally shimmer. The white dress of the strolling woman, rendered with remarkable virtuosity, captures the green and bluish reflections of the surrounding setting, already revealing the painter's sensitivity to the chromatic variations of natural light. The contrast between the two figures, one pale and luminous, the other dark and firm, powerfully structures this composition, which celebrates the sweetness of a lovers' walk in the countryside.

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