Pinning the Hat (Le Chapeau épinglé)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir created Pinning the Hat (Le Chapeau épinglé) in 1897, a lithograph that exemplifies the artist's late style characterized by soft forms and intimate subjects. This piece marks Renoir’s sustained engagement with graphic arts toward the close of the 19th century, following his earlier successful experiments with etching and soft-ground techniques. As a lithograph, the French master utilized the planar process, carefully manipulating the greasy properties of the stone to capture the subtle variations in tone and texture typical of his oil paintings. The composition highlights Renoir’s enduring interest in depicting the casual elegance and domesticity of contemporary Parisian women.

The work centers on two female figures, presumably engaged in the private act suggested by the title: securing or adjusting a hat. This focus on fashion and feminine ritual aligns with the themes explored throughout Renoir's successful period of high Impressionism, though executed here with the heavier, more rounded modeling that emerged in his 1890s output. Unlike earlier Impressionist pieces that often captured fleeting outdoor light, this piece emphasizes an interior, focusing on the figures' interaction and the delicate handling of materials. Renoir utilized the lithographic medium to achieve a velvety depth, allowing the figures' forms to dissolve softly into the background rather than being sharply delineated, a hallmark of his post-Impressionist approach.

Dating to 1897, this late print demonstrates the technical skill Renoir maintained while experimenting with new media formats. The work is a significant example of French graphic art from the fin-de-siècle era. This piece is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, contributing to MoMA's substantial holdings of pivotal 19th-century prints. Because of its age and cultural significance, high-quality images of this masterwork are frequently available to the public through libraries and digital archives, broadening access to Renoir’s late period output.