Young Woman in Red Dress

A young woman in a strongly reddish-orange blouse looks out at the viewer, her hands folded in front of her chest. On her head is a yellow hat trimmed with a red ribbon. The background is in pale gray and bluish tones, and the figure's outline melts softly into it. It is oil on canvas, measuring 65.4 x 54.5 cm.

The museum's commentary notes that the picture has the elements Renoir favored: the color red, beautiful clothing, a young woman's skin, and serenity. It adds that the yellow hat is a supporting player that often appears in his paintings. The work is thought to date from the early 1890s, when he was moving from the sharply outlined manner of the 1880s toward a new style later called the "pearly period."

In works of this period, the commentary explains, outlines flow, clothing takes on shimmering tones, and the figure seems to dissolve into the light along with the background. Color is not bound to the natural color of objects, and the beauty of color itself becomes the subject. This painting is also said to have a history of coming out through Bernheim-Jeune and Durand-Ruel, major dealers of Renoir's work.