Nude Study, Bust of a Woman (Étude de nu, buste de femme)

Nude Study, Bust of a Woman (Étude de nu, buste de femme), 1910, belongs to Renoir's late series of partial nude figures—busts, torsos—that isolate specific figure zones for chromatic and formal study. The bust format was closely related to sculptural thinking and became increasingly relevant to him as he developed his sculpture programme in these years with Guino. These partial nudes strip away setting and context to focus entirely on the modelling of warm flesh in light, which he considered the supreme challenge and reward of figure painting.

The cropped bust format directs all pictorial energy toward the modelling of flesh, hair, and possibly a shoulder or arm. Renoir's late nude busts are characterised by very warm, densely layered flesh tones with minimal cool shadow—the skin seems suffused with internal warmth rather than illuminated by external light.