Description
Two young women lean close together in a theatre box, both wearing dark, wide-brimmed hats piled with feathers and silk flowers. The woman at left, seen from behind in a dark dress, rests her hand at the other’s neck; her companion, in a white blouse with a full collar, turns to speak to her, lips slightly parted. The space around them is built from warm gold and deep red, the colours of theatre curtains and lamplight rather than any distinct setting.
Renoir returned to theatre-box subjects across the 1870s and 1890s, drawn to the mix of finery and gossip they let him paint. Here the hats do as much work as the faces: their black feathers and loosely dabbed flowers are built with the same loaded, confident strokes he gave the skin and fabric. The print holds that richness, keeping the near-black of the hats deep without losing the detail worked into them.



