Pinning the Hat (Le Chapeau épinglé)

ca. 1898

By the 1890s lithography was becoming reaccepted, and even celebrated, as an important medium for original artistic expression. Many artists in France began experimenting with the technique, often in collaboration with the Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard. He commissioned this elaborate color print from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who worked closely on its creation with the master lithographic printer Auguste Clot. First, Renoir drew his image on paper. That drawing was transferred to the printing stone, on which Renoir could make additions or adjustments using lithographic ink. Next, a black-and-white impression was pulled, and Renoir colored this impression directly with pastel. Clot then used this image as a guide to prepare the multiple color stones for the final lithograph, which retains the loose marks and powdery texture of Renoir’s direct pastel marks.

Pinning the Hat, which exemplifies the fashionable, leisure-class themes found in many of Renoir’s paintings, depicts Julie Morisot, the daughter of his friend Berthe Morisot.