Trip to The MET: In the Meadow

A few months ago, I took a trip to NYC and spent a morning at The MET. I will be blogging a six-part series analyzing works that caught my eye and why. 

In the Meadow (Auguste Renoir, French, 1888–92)

This is a 19th-century oil painting by French Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir. It depicts two young girls sitting in a meadow picking flowers. Renoir depicted various scenes of this pair to celebrate youthful innocence.

If someone stuck their hand into my brain and pulled out memories from my childhood, the colors and textures from this painting would overlay them. Despite being from a different time period, this work reminds me of my own childhood. It’s dreamy, colorful, and warm. Like a dream, the subject matter is clear but distorted in his loose brushstrokes. I remember thinking, “Okay, this is my favorite painting ever now,” upon first glance. I would love to go back to The MET just to stare at this painting again.  Despite being the smallest physically in this series, it left the biggest impact on me.