Renoir, Blonde Woman with Roses

The woman in this painting is Madeleine Heuschling, an actress who later married Renoir's second son, Jean, and had modeled for Renoir since the age of fifteen. Captivated by her beauty, Renoir is said to have painted her in more than 100 works.

From 1900 onward, Renoir favored full-blown roses as a symbol of feminine beauty, and here too a single rose is tucked into Madeleine's hair, with more roses arranged in a vase beside her.

At the time he painted this, Renoir's declining health had led him to settle in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a small town on the Mediterranean coast, for the climate. He produced more than 700 works there alone. He was 76 when he painted this piece, and reportedly told friends that only after fifty years of painting did he finally feel he understood what painting truly was — testament to how undiminished his passion remained.