Image: public domain, courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago

Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

Auguste Renoir, 1881

A young woman and a little girl sit on the terrace of a riverside restaurant at Chatou, on the Seine near Paris. Despite the title, they were not really sisters: Renoir paid two models who were not related.

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Did you know?

The older girl was posed by an 18-year-old aspiring actress.
No one knows who the little girl was: her model has never been identified.
Shortly before, Renoir had painted his famous Luncheon of the Boating Party at the same restaurant, the Maison Fournaise.
In July 1881 the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel bought the painting from Renoir for 1,500 francs.
It was first shown in 1882 at the seventh Impressionist exhibition, under the title The Two Sisters.
In 1925 Annie Swan Coburn of Chicago bought it for 100,000 dollars, and she left it to the Art Institute, where it has been since 1933.

About the artist

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was born in Limoges, worked mostly in Paris, and spent his last years in the sunny south of France at Cagnes-sur-Mer.

A leading Impressionist, he is loved for joyful scenes of people enjoying themselves together, such as Dance at the Moulin de la Galette and Luncheon of the Boating Party.

At thirteen he started out painting flowers on porcelain, and all his life he believed a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir ›

Where it is today: The Art Institute of Chicago · Museum page