Anemones (Anémones)

Anemones, 1907, is one of the many floral still lifes Renoir produced in his late Cagnes years, a subject he treated with the same sensuous directness he brought to his figure paintings. Flowers for Renoir were not botanical studies but occasions for pure colour exploration—the intense reds, purples, and whites of anemones against a neutral or loosely painted background allowed him to work at the pitch of chromatic intensity he found most pleasurable and most challenging. The Barnes Foundation holds a significant group of his floral canvases that together constitute a sustained meditation on colour and touch.

The anemone petals are built up with loaded, directed strokes of intense red-purple, pink, and white, with the stamens and centres noted quickly in dark, precise marks. Renoir's flower painting is deliberately loose and gestural, prioritising chromatic vitality over botanical accuracy.