Pierre-Auguste Renoir – A Clearing in the Woods

A Clearing in the Woods – a restrained woodland scene from the earliest years

A Clearing in the Woods is an oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir from 1865. The original measures 82.6 cm x 57.2 cm and is held by the Detroit Institute of Arts. We paint our version by hand in oils on canvas, in eight landscape sizes, from 60 x 40 to 150 x 100 cm. Among them is 83 x 57 cm, which matches the measurement of the original, with 110 x 75 cm as the step above it.

Restraint instead of effect

What is recorded is the character of this scene: an impressive, elegant and in some way restrained look into nature. The restraint matters here – this is the observation of a wood, not a scene that wants to make an impression. The painting shows a matter-of-fact study of nature, which in Renoir’s work often stays in the background, because there the human figure usually takes over. It is a canvas from his earliest years, that is, from before the period he is best known for today.

Why hand-painted, not a print

Our version is not a print. A woodland scene is made almost entirely of greens and browns that sit close together in brightness, and it is in exactly such a scene that a print gives itself away most: the screen merges neighbouring tones into a single area and the depth between the trees disappears. A hand-painted canvas separates the planes by the density of the paint and by the warmth of the colour, not by a darker outline, so the tree at the back stays at the back even when it is as bright as the one in front.

In the room

The subject is horizontal, quiet and without narrative, so it works well where a painting should settle a room: a study, a bedroom, a waiting area or a hallway. For an ordinary room we suggest 83 x 57 cm, the measurement of the original, or 100 x 70 cm. On a wider wall 130 x 90 or 150 x 100 cm works, where the depth between the trees opens out. The smallest size, 60 x 40 cm, suits a narrow wall or a stairwell where the painting is seen in passing.

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 Clearing in the Woods 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: clearing and trees in a wood, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• Technique: hand-painted oil painting on canvas, stretched on a wooden frame
• Sizes: 8 sizes, from 60 x 40 cm to 150 x 100 cm, another size on request
• Detail worth knowing: a scene from the earliest years in which the observation of nature takes over rather than the human figure – rarer in Renoir

See also:

• The Skiff
• The Wave
• The Harvesters