Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Strawberries

Strawberries – four surfaces, each returning the light differently

The Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris holds Strawberries, of 1905, under inventory number RF 1963-17, in the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection; the original is oil on canvas and measures 46.0 cm x 28.0 cm. Our art reproduction Strawberries is painted by hand in oils on canvas, in eight sizes from 90 x 55 to 175 x 110 cm.

Cloth, glaze, silver and a cut lemon

On a white cloth crossed by a red line stands a shallow ribbed dish heaped with strawberries and their green calyxes. At the left is a blue-and-white ceramic pot with a silver spoon, and in front of it a halved lemon and a knife. At the lower centre three strawberries stay joined on one stem. The ground is a warm brownish red without detail, and the signature is painted at the upper right.

Why hand-painted, not a print

Our version is not a print. Renoir is playing on the difference between surfaces here: the matt cloth, the smooth glaze of the pot, the cool metallic gleam of the spoon and the damp, grainy skin of the fruit. Each of those surfaces is made with a different stroke and a different quantity of material. A hand-made version can genuinely make four different substances different; print impresses them all onto the same sheet.

In the room

The scene rests on four surfaces that each return the light in their own way: the white cloth, the glazed earthenware bowl, the silver spoon, and the wet cut lemon. Those surfaces are the first to go when the canvas is small, leaving only the red patch of the strawberries, which is why this subject should not be ordered too small. For an average wall we suggest 110 x 70 cm, above a longer piece of furniture 150 x 90 cm, and on a large wall 175 x 110 cm works, with 130 x 80 cm as the step between. The format is horizontal and low and sits well above a chest of drawers, in a kitchen or a dining room, where the space below the painting is already taken up by furniture.

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. Strawberries 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: bowl of strawberries, earthenware dish with a silver spoon and a cut lemon, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• Technique: hand-painted oil painting on canvas, stretched on a wooden frame
• Sizes: 8 sizes, from 90 x 55 cm to 175 x 110 cm, another size on request
• Detail worth knowing: three strawberries lie on a single stem at the bottom centre and lead the eye back into the bowl

See also:

• Still Life with Apples and Almonds
• Flowers in a Vase
• Still Life: Flowers