Landscape at Cagnes (Renoir's Garden)

Depicted here is a view of the garden at Renoir's villa "Les Collettes" at Cagnes-sur-Mer in the south of France. The effects of the artist's rheumatoid arthritis forced him to spend more and more time in this warmer climate, where he settled permanently in 1907. Among the Impressionists, Renoir had perhaps the most distinctive painting style, resulting mainly from his "rainbow" palette, which consisted of intense, pure tones and almost no black. In this late work, he had long abandoned the primary Impressionist concerns with the study of light and color in nature, in favor of a more linear style and a highly charged decorative palette. Although certain areas are worked up with light impasto, most of the surface is smooth and at times quite sparse betraying a loose brushwork and fluid pigment.