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Auguste Renoir - Camille Monet Reading 'Le Figaro' 1872

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From Museu e Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon:
This portrait dates from the period when Renoir paid frequent visits to the Monet family in Argenteuil. The figure of Camille is a habitual presence in works by the great names of the Impressionist movement, to which she has inevitably been linked.
The most remarkable and, at the same time, most innovative aspect of the painting is the openly impressionist manner in which Renoir tackles the theme, lending this interior scene an atmosphere redolent of open-air painting. The diffuse distribution of the light, which extends across the surface of the painting, helps to create an overall sense of freshness. The forms, which are highlighted by unequal focus points, are dissolved in the majority of the composition and are therefore devoid of real substance.