Study of Heads (Étude de têtes)

Study of Heads (Étude de têtes), 1890, belongs to Renoir's practice of placing multiple heads on a single canvas as a compositional and technical exercise — a format with deep roots in the académie tradition, where students copied Old Master studies showing several heads or hands at different angles. Renoir adapted this traditional exercise to his Impressionist aims: the multiple heads gave him the opportunity to explore related but differentiated flesh tones, hair colours, and facial expressions within a single working session, essentially conducting a colour experiment in which proximity forced him to distinguish between heads through subtle chromatic variation rather than tonal modelling. The 1890 date places this study within his post-experimental consolidation, when he was re-establishing the warm, direct figure painting style that the Ingres-influenced 'dry period' of the mid-1880s had temporarily displaced. These studies were working documents of his method, and Barnes's preservation of them alongside the finished compositions provides invaluable evidence of his process.

Multiple heads require careful tonal differentiation to prevent them merging into a single mass. Renoir distinguishes them through varied flesh temperatures and hair colours while maintaining an overall warm, harmonious palette. The heads float against a loosely indicated background that provides tonal contrast without spatial specificity.