Renoir at the Clark

Back in the 1980s I used to vacation in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts each summer, mainly to see the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, but also to take in the museums and historic sites. My number one stop every year was the Clark Institute in Williamstown. Sterling and Francine Clark had an enormous art collection so they built the museum in 1955 to house it. They had quite a number of impressionist paintings and this is where I spent the majority of my time. 

I am especially fond of Renoir (Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1841 – 1919). I love the brilliant colors he used, not only in his landscapes, but in people’s clothing and in his portrait backgrounds. The beauty of children’s faces especially was fetching. Although it’s hard to see it in pictures of the paintings, his detail of their faces, down to the eyelashes was amazing. 

One of my favorite paintings is “Sleeping Girl with Cat.” It seems to be a hot summer day and the girl is tired from the heat and her labors. And isn’t it just like a cat to take advantage of an open lap to settle into for a quick nap?

A poet of my acquaintance wrote this little word portrait of the pair.

Renoir: Sleeping Girl (with cat)

O hazy summer afternoon,

O lazy, yawning day in June

In squinting sun the pair does doze

The heads do nod, the eyes do close

A whisker flicks, a finger twitches

Such sweet and welcome slumber this is

Too warm to run, too warm to play

And kitty on her lap will lay

Together will they sit and sigh

Until the evening breeze floats by

The silky cat, the sleepy girl

What finer day in all the world.