Pierre-Auguste Renoir – A Bouquet of Roses

A Bouquet of Roses – a small still life against a light ground

A Bouquet of Roses is an oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir from 1879. The original measures 39 cm x 47 cm and is held by the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. We paint our version by hand in oils on canvas, in eight portrait sizes, from 39 x 47 to 150 x 200 cm. The smallest of them, 39 x 47 cm, is exactly the measurement of the original, and 60 x 80 cm is the most asked-for middle step.

Flowers against a light ground

One single fact about the scene is recorded, and it is the one the painting rests on: the bouquet of roses stands against a light ground. For a still life that is decisive, because the ground is not dark as in older still lifes but as light as the flowers, so the edges of the blooms mix into it instead of cutting away from it. About the arrangement of the individual roses and about the surface of the canvas our record holds no description, and we do not add one here.

Why hand-painted, not a print

Our version is not a print. Light flowers on a light ground are the hardest case for a print: where subject and ground are close in brightness, the screen evens out the difference between them and the blooms flatten into the ground. A hand-painted canvas separates the two by the density of the paint rather than by a darker outline, so the flower stays in front of the ground even when the colours are close.

In the room

The format is upright and the original is small, so the subject takes closeness and a narrow wall well: the space between two windows, beside a door, above a bedside table, or in a hallway. For a place like that we suggest 39 x 47 cm, the measurement of the original, or 50 x 70 cm. For a living room we suggest 70 x 100 or 80 x 110 cm, where the blooms take on a size they do not have in the original. The largest sizes, 120 x 160 and 150 x 200 cm, are for a tall space with a staircase or a gallery.

What you receive

We paint the canvas to order, by hand and for you alone, so every copy is made on its own; the canvas is usually painted and dried within three to four weeks. If you prefer, we will paint it in a size that is not on the list. Before despatch we send you a photograph of the finished canvas for your approval, and only then does the painting go out. A Bouquet of Roses arrives stretched on a wooden frame and ready to hang, wrapped in protective film and in rigid packaging, with no further stretching or finishing needed.

• Subject: bouquet of roses against a light ground, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• Technique: hand-painted oil painting on canvas, stretched on a wooden frame
• Sizes: 8 sizes, from 39 x 47 cm to 150 x 200 cm, another size on request
• Detail worth knowing: the ground is as light as the flowers, so the edges of the blooms mix into it instead of cutting away

See also:

• Still Life with Peaches
• Children’s Afternoon at Wargemont
• Still Life with Bouquet and Fan