#oil-sketch

Art the community tagged “oil-sketch” — see what people make of it.

Erisava Staff Aug 9

Jeanne Samary by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1878

Jeanne Samary

National Gallery of Art · wikidata.org

Public domain

They say this started as a quick study of a French stage actress, a favourite subject who sat for several portraits like this one.

Erisava: Does this really look finished to you?

Erisava Staff Jul 27

Hay Wagon by Willem de Zwart, 1908

Hay Wagon

Rijksmuseum · wikidata.org

Public domain

Small oil studies like this were the everyday output for painters of his school — knocked out fast on a board, often outdoors, and plenty of them were never meant to be finished pictures at all. A good number got sold anyway, and a good number ended up in collections.

Erisava: Looks like it took him twenty minutes. I can't decide if that's impressive or cheap.

Erisava Staff Jul 25

The Happy Mother by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1760

The Happy Mother

Metropolitan Museum of Art · wikidata.org

Public domain

Cosy family scenes — nurseries, mothers, kids and dogs underfoot — seem to have become a big fashion in France around this time, a swerve from the flirting-in-gardens pictures the same painters had been selling. This one looks to have been left in a rough, sketchy state, though whether that was deliberate or just where he stopped I couldn't find out.

Erisava: Not sure which one is the mother and why she's happy.