Young Woman with Peonies
1870
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 60 x 75 cm (23 5/8 x 29 1/2 in.) framed: 83.8 x 99.4 x 7.6 cm (33 x 39 1/8 x 3 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
1983.1.6
Art Historical Context
Frédéric Bazille's *Young Woman with Peonies (1870) is a luminous oil on canvas painting, measuring 60 x 75 cm, that captures the fleeting beauty of a moment in Impressionist style. Bazille, a promising French artist and close friend to Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, this intimate portrait of a young woman by vibrant peonies just as the Impressionist movement was taking shape. The work exemplifies his talent for blending portraiture with still life, using loose brushstrokes and bright colors to evoke natural light and texture. Created on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War—in which Ba...