Audio Stop 418

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A woman wearing a sheer white blouse, short red and gold vest, and full-legged, patterned pants cinched below the knee lies back and looks at us with hooded eyes in this horizontal painting. Her shoulders lean back against an oversized white pillow, up along the right edge of the composition. Her body tips toward us, and her knees are bent so her feet are together in the lower left corner. Her right arm rests along the side of her body, and she props herself up with her other arm. That hand has a gold band on the ring finger. Her light skin is tinged with green on her face. Her head rolls slightly away from us so she looks down her cheeks at us with slitted, dark eyes through heavily lined lids. She has dark brows, and her rose-red lips are parted. The angle of her head creates a slight double chin. Gold hoops with dangling fringe or chains hang from her ears, and she wears three strands of dark beads around her neck. Her black hair is plaited in a thick braid that comes down over her left shoulder, closer to us. A cap made of gold-colored disks and red fringe sits on the far side of her head. The woman’s clothing is more loosely painted. We may see her breasts and pink nipples through her sheer, silver-gray tunic, which has long, voluminous sleeves. The short, bolero-style vest is strawberry red and gold, with narrow cap sleeves. A sea-blue sash around her waist is striped with overlapping burnt-orange and black lines. Her pants have flaring legs gathered with a button just below her knees. The pattern is of sage-green circles with swipes of rust-red in the center, suggesting flowers and vines against a black background. Her knees are spread open so her feet can barely be contained within the composition. Her teal-green slip-on shoes have the suggestion of flowers painted with dabs of yellow, black, and red, and a pompom atop each toe box. A red and gold cushion sits just beyond her feet. On it is a tray of oranges and an emerald-green jug. The pillow the woman leans on is propped against a short section of wall or piece of furniture painted with a border of roses. The room opens up beyond this, and has a turquoise and brown rug leading back to a cranberry-red sofa, on which a gray piece of fabric has been draped. The wall above is patterned with yellow and green diamonds and pink flowers against a laurel-green background. The artist signed the lower left, “A. Renoir. 70.”

Auguste Renoir

Odalisque, 1870

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 81

Read full audio transcript

Odalisque by Auguste Renoir, painted in 1870, oil on canvas. The painted surface is just over 2 feet high by 4 feet wide.

This description is just over 3 minutes long.

A white woman, whose pale skin is tinged with yellow, lies along the width of this canvas. Her head and shoulders are propped up on a pillow to the right. Her knees are slightly bent so her feet can fit into the lower left corner of the painting. All her garments are patterned in gold and jewel-toned colors. In the background are more colorful fabrics, cushions, rugs, and screens. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the background.

Let’s explore some of the details, starting with the woman herself.

She leans her head back against a bulky white pillow as she looks at us from the corners of dark, half-closed eyes. The heavy lids are shaded with brown, and her eyes are lined with black. She has black, arched brows and her rose-red lips are parted to show a glimpse of teeth. We see the soft underside of her slight double chin, which is pulled in as her head leans back. Gold hoops hang from her ears.

Her long black hair is loosely braided and falls over the shoulder closer to us. A little cap is perched on her head, decorated with gold coins or buttons. A scarlet tassel spreads out from it across the white pillow to our left. The pillow is propped against a screen with a patterned leafy border. Behind the woman’s head is a loosely painted circular form, possibly a feather fan, composed of concentric rings of gold, yellow, and sapphire blue.

The woman’s outfit is made up of layers of garments in silky, diaphanous fabrics. Her top is a gauzy white long-sleeved blouse. Over it she wears a sleeveless, open waistcoat, known as a bolero, in gold. Tied around her waist is a flowing turquoise shawl striped with rust red. Her loose pants are patterned with moss green, gold, and brick red, in leafy and floral designs. The garment falls to just below her knee, where it is edged with bands of gold, and fastened with a button. More gauzy white fabric bundles in her lap. Her shins are bare, with her toes loosely thrust into gold and blue backless slippers with fluffy white pompoms.

Her right hand rests on her right thigh. Her left lies loosely at her side. Her legs are relaxed: the left one, nearest us, is nearly straight. The right knee is slightly bent as it falls open.

She lies on a cream-white rug. Behind her legs, at left, is a round red velvet cushion, holding a tray with a grass green pottery jug and a dish of oranges. In the background, creating a band across the top of the painting, are a patterned rug and throws, a long red velvet cushion, and powder blue patterned wallpaper.

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