Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

1881

Despite the title, the young women in this painting were not actually sisters. The older girl in the center gazes absently beyond her younger companion, whose red cheeks suggest that she just dashed into the picture. These casual expressions make this “sisterly” moment feel genuine. Renoir juxtaposed the girls’ figures against a dreamy landscape, the basket of yarn evoking an artist’s palette.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919)

Date

1881

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

100.4 × 80.9 cm (39 1/2 × 31 7/8 in.); Framed: 119.1 × 100.1 × 7.7 cm (46 7/8 × 39 3/8 × 3 in.)

Origin

France

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection