Artwork
Young Woman with a Blue Choker

Young Woman with a Blue Choker is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Auguste Renoir. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.
About this work
Young Woman with a Blue Choker is an oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, created in 1888.
Young Woman with a Blue Choker is an oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, created in 1888. The work shows a young adult woman wearing a blue ribbon around her neck.
We don’t know who the model was, but she also appears in Renoir’s larger composition Les Grandes Baigneuses, where she is part of a group of women at the water’s edge. That connection helps us see how Renoir liked to reuse figures across his canvases.
You can see the painting at the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.
Overview
Young Woman with a Blue Choker is an 1888 oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, housed at the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. The work depicts a young woman wearing a blue choker, her identity unknown.
Subject & Meaning
The subject, a young woman, is also recognizable in Renoir's Les Grandes Baigneuses (1887), illustrating the artist's practice of reusing familiar figures across compositions. The blue choker serves as a focal point, drawing attention to the subject's gentle, introspective demeanor.
Technique & Style
Marking a stylistic shift, this painting represents Renoir's return to a softer, more delicate approach after a period of Impressionist experimentation, characterized by light, gentle brushstrokes.
History & Provenance
Created in 1888, the painting is part of Renoir's later work, reflecting his self-described 'new and final manner of painting' as expressed in a letter to Paul Durand-Ruel, indicating a conscious return to his earlier style.
Context
This work reflects Renoir's broader artistic evolution, moving between Impressionist innovation and a return to more traditional, serene representations of everyday life and figures.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on 25 February 1841 in Limoges, the son of a tailor and a seamstress.



















