Landscape in Southern France (Cagnes).

By 1911, Renoir had settled permanently in Cagnes-sur-Mer in the South of France, drawn by the climate that eased his severe arthritis. This late landscape sketch on paper captures the Mediterranean terrain around Cagnes with the loose, atmospheric freedom of his final period. In his last years, Renoir's landscapes became increasingly personal — records of the immediate world around his studio 'Les Collettes' — and progressively looser in execution. Though small in scale, this work embodies the late Renoir synthesis: Mediterranean light, warm ochre earth, and the kind of gestural shorthand he developed when painting despite crippled hands.

Working on paper rather than canvas, Renoir uses fluid, open strokes with no attempt at detailed finish. Warm ochres, greens, and pale blues define the Mediterranean landscape. The touch is extremely free, suggesting rather than describing the terrain through colour temperature and tonal contrast.