Woman Leaning on Her Elbows (Femme accoudée)

Renoir was among the greatest Impressionist portrait painters, alongside Degas and Cézanne. This painting made from life may represent one of the friends who visited Renoir's studio and garden at Montmartre, in the north of Paris. Renoir captures the young woman in an off-guard moment with a dreamy expression, possibly against a background of foliage. Renoir frequently juxtaposed sequences of heads on a single canvas, and here he has included a second portrait at top right.