Two Sisters

On a sunny terrace above the Seine, a young woman and a little girl sit side by side among flowers and balls of wool. Renoir called them Two Sisters, though they were not related at all.

The story behind the painting

Renoir painted Two Sisters in 1881 on the terrace of the Maison Fournaise, a restaurant on an island in the Seine at Chatou, in the western suburbs of Paris. He knew the place well: in 1880 and 1881, just before this canvas, he had worked there on another famous picture, Luncheon of the Boating Party. He began Two Sisters in April 1881. For the elder sister he chose Jeanne Darlot, then 18 years old and a future actress. Who posed as the younger sister is unknown, and the models were in fact not related. By July 7, 1881, the painting had already been bought by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.

What to look for

The two figures sit outdoors, close together, filling much of the canvas, which measures 100.5 by 81 cm. The elder sister, posed by Jeanne Darlot, sits beside the younger girl. Near them is a small basket holding balls of wool, a quiet domestic touch in the open air. Let your eye travel past them to the railings of the terrace. Beyond lies a screen of shrubbery and foliage, and behind that, the River Seine. The scene moves from the figures in front, through the greenery, to the water in the distance, so that we feel the whole spring setting of the riverside terrace around the two sitters.

Meaning and intent

The painting carries two titles, and each tells us something. Renoir himself named it Two Sisters (Les Deux Sœurs), placing the emphasis on the bond between the figures. Its first owner, Paul Durand-Ruel, called it On the Terrace (Sur la terrasse), drawing attention to the place. Knowing that the models were not actually sisters adds a gentle twist: the closeness we see is something the painter created on canvas rather than recorded from life. In this way the picture is both a portrait, as Wikidata classes it, and a scene of everyday life, an image of youth and companionship set against the light and greenery of the Seine.

Legacy

Two Sisters was shown to the public for the first time at the 7th Impressionist exhibition in the spring of 1882. By 1883 it was in the collection of Charles Ephrussi, a collector and publisher, but in 1892 it returned to the Durand-Ruel family. In 1925 it was acquired by Annie Swan Coburn of Chicago. After her death in 1932 she bequeathed it to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has remained since 1933. Today visitors there can still step, in imagination, onto that terrace at Chatou, the same place where Renoir painted Luncheon of the Boating Party.