Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Limoges 1841-Cagnes-sur-Mer 1919) Study for 'The Bathers' Pencil, sanguine, black and white chalks retouched with brush on ochre paper; 985 x 640 mm. Provenance: Hebrard; Brewster Chicago, Art Institute, Kate L. Brewster Bequest, inv. 1949.514 (Source:Pignatti, Terisio, 1982, Master Drawings: From Cave Art to Picasso, Evans Brothers, London).

In this high key drawing Renoir successfully conveys not only a soft and diffuse quality of light but also the intensity of the highlights reflecting from the moist skin, the texture of the skin and the subtle translucent quality of the fleshtones. Working on mid-tone paper he has built up the highlight tones with flesh-tone and white coloured chalks and then added the edge tones in black.