Girl in Gray-Blue

Renoir's portraits of girls in unconventional or muted colour schemes — grey-blue rather than the warm pinks of his typical feminine palette — represent a deliberate tonal variation within his figure-painting practice. Girl in Gray-Blue likely dates from a period in the 1880s when he was experimenting with cooler harmonies after his engagement with Cézanne's approach during their time together in L'Estaque in 1882. Cézanne's more analytical, cooler palette temporarily influenced Renoir's colour thinking before he returned decisively to warmth. A painting like this may preserve a trace of that cooler, more structured phase.

The grey-blue of the girl's costume sets a cooler tonal keynote than Renoir usually employs, with skin modelled in relatively restrained warm tones rather than his usual roses. The compositional approach is more frontal and symmetrical than his loosest female studies, suggesting this was executed with more formal care. The background continues the cool tonal range without introducing strong contrast.