The Source (La Source)

Water sources — streams, bathing pools, rivers — appear repeatedly in Renoir's 1870s work as settings allowing depiction of female figures in light-filled natural environments. This canvas titled La Source, from 1875 at the Barnes Foundation, belongs to a moment when Renoir was experimenting with placing the female figure outdoors, testing how Impressionist brushwork could render simultaneously the movement of water and the warmth of skin. The title connects it to a venerable tradition of water-source allegories, though Renoir approaches it with none of the classical solemnity the genre conventionally demanded.

Light reflecting off the water source creates a diffuse all-over luminosity captured through a high-keyed palette and broken colour touches. The figure's contours are softened by surrounding light, avoiding any sharp outline.