At first glance, this painting may seem like an unfinished sketch. The children do not occupy a cohesive space, and some appear more than once. Renoir, however, considered it finished, and exhibited it in 1883. He painted several portraits of his friend and patron Paul Berard, his wife Marguerite, and their four children. This portrait’s unusual format suggests that instead of asking the children to pose formally, Renoir painted them reading, sleeping, or otherwise occupied during one of his stays at the Berard country estate.
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