Mlle Charlotte Berthier

Mlle Charlotte Berthier was painted by Renoir in 1883, in the period of his so-called Dry Period transition when he was reassessing his Impressionist approach under the influence of Raphael and Ingres. The portrait belongs to a series of female portraits made during his late 1870s and early '80s period of formal reassessment, and it shows the harder, more linear contours and more deliberate compositional structure that distinguish this period from the looser paintings of the Argenteuil years. Renoir later regretted parts of this transitional work, but portraits from the period benefit from a precision of likeness his looser manner sometimes sacrificed.

The sitter's face shows the more defined contours and deliberate modelling of Renoir's Dry Period — transitions between flesh tones are measured rather than intuitive, contours are firmer than in his Impressionist portraits. The three-quarter pose and formal arrangement recall academic portrait convention, though Renoir's warm palette prevents the result from feeling cold or academic.