Maison de la Poste, Cagnes
1906/1907
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall (including taped edges): 13 x 22.5 cm (5 1/8 x 8 7/8 in.) framed: 30.2 x 39.4 x 5.7 cm (11 7/8 x 15 1/2 x 2 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Accession Number
1970.17.77
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Auguste Renoir’s *Maison de la Poste, Cagnes* offers a charming glimpse of everyday life in the South of France. Painted in 1906–1907, when the artist had settled in the hills above Cagnes-sur-Mer, the small oil on canvas captures the modest post office building bathed in the region’s luminous Mediterranean light. At just 13 by 22.5 centimeters, the work feels intimate, as though Renoir carried the canvas outdoors to record the scene directly. By this late stage of his career, Renoir had moved beyond the bustling Parisian scenes of his Impressionist youth. The warm climate of Provence encouraged a softer palette and looser handling of paint, allowing colors to blend gently on the canvas. The modest scale and visible brushwork suggest this may have been a study made on the spot, preserving the freshness of direct observation. Today the painting resides in the National Gallery of Art’s Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection. Its quiet subject and radiant light continue to invite viewers to share Renoir’s delight in the simple beauty of southern France.
About the Artist
Auguste Renoir · 1841–1919
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a founding figure of Impressionism whose luminous depictions of Parisian leisure, sensuous female forms, and sun-dappled landscapes made him one of the most beloved painters in Western art history. Born in Limoges to a working-class family, Renoir began as a porcelain painter before pursuing fine arts, and this early craft experience gave him facility with the...