Still Life with Melon and Peaches

At the end of his life, Renoir produced still lifes that were both pleasing and lucrative. These works were always composed simply, with a head-on view on a horizontal plane. Here, the large melon and the peaches are arranged very casually on a tablecloth and rapidly executed in the luminous fluidity of his later works, when he settled in Cagnes. The refined colouring, the careful handling and the apparent simplicity of the composition refer to eighteenth-century painters, Chardin in particular.