L'œuvre en bref

This painting is one of the five versions Auguste Renoir produced on this theme, following an official commission from the French State for the Musée du Luxembourg, the painter's first major institutional recognition. Aware of the importance of this commission, Renoir devoted considerable time to the subject, multiplying sketches and variants in pursuit of perfection. The work belongs to the great tradition of bourgeois domestic scenes developed by late nineteenth-century painters, and bears witness to Renoir's "pearly manner" — softer and more linear than his early Impressionist period.

Two young girls are absorbed in deciphering a musical score. The one on the left, dressed in white with long blonde hair tied with a blue ribbon, rests her fingers on the keyboard; her companion, in an orange-red dress with a white collar, leans over her shoulder to follow the notes. The bourgeois interior is rendered with particular care: pale green drapery, a bouquet of flowers on a console table, a pink armchair, and patterned wallpaper create a warm and refined setting. Renoir employs here a blended, almost velvety touch, with contours softened into subtle gradations. The palette, dominated by pinks, creamy whites, and tender greens, bathes the scene in a muted light that evokes the quiet of musical afternoons among a cultivated youth — a motif also dear to Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt.

Looking to buy another Auguste Renoir reproduction? Browse all our reproductions by this artist.